The Hindu : Sport : Punjab and Sind Bank reigns supreme

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 31, 2005

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Sport

Punjab and Sind Bank reigns supreme

By V.V. Subrahmanyam

GREAT STICK WORK: PSB's Ajitpal Singh dribbles past IOC's Inder Singh in the 61st senior National hockey championship final on Wednesday. — Photo: H. Satish

HYDERABAD, MARCH 30. Punjab & Sind Bank (PSB), Jalandhar, emerged champion in the 61st senior National hockey championship for Rangaswamy Cup defeating Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) 2-0 at Gachibowli Complex here on Wednesday night.

The bankmen played according to a plan. Its defence was organised and the forward-line showed the desired coordination when the situation demanded. And PSB dominated for most part of the game.

The Jalandhar side could have shot into lead in the fifth minute itself. But Ajitpal Singh made a mess of a wonderful opportunity set up after a one-to-one effort by captain Baljit Singh Saini and Parminder Singh. PSB tested the rival defence repeatedly as Parminder Singh, Gurvender Singh and Baljit Singh Chandi worked in tandem.

On the other hand, the combination of captain Deepak Thakur and Prabhjot Singh failed to produce any good moves for IOC. They were often stopped outside the striking zone by the strong PSB defence.

In the 19th minute, drag-flicker Navpreet Singh was spot on with the third penalty-corner the Bankmen earned to give the impetus to its thrust.

PSB relied on short passes and the distribution was precise. Only when Prabhjot Singh, who was back after a yellow card suspension alongwith Devender Singh (PSB), did IOC look a better side. For he was in the thick of a couple of counter-attacks in the company of Deepak Thakur before the break. A lovely ball from the center by Sunil Yadav to Inderjit Singh Chadda went abegging as the latter ended up merely hitting into the side of the net. One of the very few threatening moves from IOC. Soon, Hamja Mujtaba had a splendid run down the right flank only to run into goalkeeper Maninder Singh. And PSB could have scored the second goal but Parminder Singh's angular hit on the run from the right of 'D' of a lovely cross from Kulwinder Singh went over the bar.

At half-time PSB led 1-0.

IOC's attack

On resumption, IOC did show the desired urgency with Deepak Thakur and Prabhjot Singh getting into the groove. Unfortunately, the latter missed an easy chance to score in front of an open goal within two minutes when he delayed to essay his angular reverse hit from the left, which just went out. Soon, Deepak ran down the right flank to give a neat pass to Inderjit Singh Chadda whose attempt was blocked by the custodian Maninder Singh. This was the only phase when IOC looked like changing the course of the match. But that it earned its first penalty-corner in the 48th minute could well indicate how the forward-line struggled beyond the 25-yard line. And to its chagrin, a rasping hit of the penalty-corner was cleared by an alert Devender Singh.

A quick counter-attack from PSB pushed IOC on the defensive. A superb centre from the right by Gurvinder Singh was not even trapped by Parminder Singh.

Later, Gurvinder Singh made amends with a splendid goal. Picking up a long ball from his own half, Gurvinder ran all alone from the half-line, dribbling past two defenders, and essayed a carpet drive into the left corner of the goal in the 54th minute.

"Clearly, they outpaced us. All of them looked perfectly fit," remarked a disappointed Deepak Thakur. However, PSB coach Rajinder Singh said winning the Nationals without star players was in itself a creditable achievement. "We played like a well-knit team," said a beaming Rajinder Singh.

Earlier, Indian Airlines recorded a 2-0 win against Services to finish third. Samir Dad struck (16th minute) and Brojen Singh (60th) scored for the Airlines.

Services had to blame for themselves for missing many scoring chances. It wasted all the seven penalty-corners earned compared to just three by Services.

Manipur bagged the Fair Play Trophy, instituted in the name of late Gurusewak Singh.

K. Jothikumaran, Secretary General, IHF, gave away the prizes.

Probables

Indian Hockey Federation picked 34 probables based on the performances in the 61st Senior National hockey (men) championship for Rangaswamy Cup which concluded here today.

According to Mr. K.Jothikumaran, secretary-general of IHF, the probables would be joining the national camps, the dates and venues of which will be decided at a subsequent meeting to be chaired by the president Mr K.P.S.Gill. The probables were selected on the inputs provided by the panel comprising Olympians Ajitpal Singh, M.P.Govinda, N.Mukesh Kumar, Edwards Alloysius, AP Police's Moosa Bin Ibrahim and Nayeemuddin of South Central Railway. It may be recalled that these members were nominated by the IHF exclusively for this Nationals.

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