The Hindu : Sport / Hockey : Indian Airlines triumphs after a sedate final

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Monday, Mar 06, 2006

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Sport - Hockey

Indian Airlines triumphs after a sedate final

Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI: Indian Airlines capped its third title win of the season by defeating Bharat Petroleum 1-0 in the final of the Maharaja Ranjit Singh hockey tournament at the Shivaji Stadium here on Sunday.

Playing an uncharacteristically defensive game, IA rode on captain Sameer Dad's 18th minute goal to win the Rs. 1 lakh prizemoney and a glittering golden trophy. Bharat Petroleum settled for Rs. 50,000 and the runners-up trophy.

With four of its players on National duty and defender Dilip Tirkey out due to injury, IA opted for safety mode. "We stuck to the plan as Len (Aiyappa) is a dangerous penalty corner specialist," admitted Dad. IA conceded just one penalty corner, which Aiyappa almost scored but for Jagdish Ponnappa's brilliant save.

IA's Prabodh Tirkey, Arjun Halappa, Vikram Pillay and Sandeep Singh were part of the Commonwealth Games team that flew out to Melbourne on Sunday evening.

Cautious gameplan

"In their absence, our best chance was to keep the ball in play and not go for anything outlandish," said Dad. In addition, the loss to Punjab and Sind Bank through a golden goal in the final of the K.D. Singh Babu tournament last week weighed heavily on IA's gameplan.

After a dull start, Baljinder Singh infused some life into the match when he cut through the right flank and moved up. V.S. Vinay joined him and between them they virtually engaged six defenders.

Vinay made a chance clearance for an unmarked Dad standing in the circle. Dad wasted no time as he swept a powerful reverse shot into the net.

Two minutes later, Ravinder Singh created a similar opportunity but Aiyappa stood guard.

Amar disappoints

When Bharat Petroleum got its chance to equalise, Amar Aiyamma wasted it with his feeble effort. BPCL's top scorer twice failed to tap the ball into an open post in the 34th minute.

The second half produced nothing better as IA was happy with the slender lead. After Aiyappa's drag was nullified in the 56th minute, Brojen had a chance to improve the tally, but failed.

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