The Hindu : Sport : Railways and Haryana come up with contrasting victories

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 29, 2006

Sport

Sport

Railways and Haryana come up with contrasting victories

Sports Reporter

GOTCHA: Sarita Lakra of Railways scores past Jharkhand goalkeeper Marita Tirkey. — PHOTO: SANDEEP SAXENA

NEW DELHI: International strikers Saba Anjum and Surinder Kaur struck two goals apiece to fashion Railways' 9-2 win over Jharkhand in a Pool E super league match in the NTPC 54th women's National hockey championship at the Shivaji Stadium here on Tuesday.

However, Haryana — the joint holders of the National title with Railways — struggled to register a 3-1 win over Delhi in a Pool F match.

Saba and Surinder, part of the squad that won the silver medal at the Commonwealth Games, got back to the business of domestic hockey within 48 hours after arriving from Melbourne.

Surinder excels

Despite sporting stitches under her right eye, Surinder was in the thick of action. In the 14th minute, she moved upfront, cut across two defenders and slammed the ball in for the opening goal.

Asunta Lakra made it 2-0 four minutes later when the ball was cleared from a melee at the goalmouth. Jharkhand — which drew with Madhya Pradesh 3-3 in its first super league match — rallied through Amrita Minz's penalty corner conversion on the rebound.

After wasting two penalty corners, Railways doubled its lead when Rajwinder Kaur's shot struck Jharkhand goalkeeper Marita Tirkey and rolled in for a half-time lead of 3-1. With Jharkhand increasing the tempo through Annarita Kerketta and Amrita Minz, Railways improved its cushion when Surinder caught the rival defence napping in the 38th minute.

The best goal came through the stick of Saba, who raced from the centre, cutting through four defenders. She then sent Marita the wrong way before slotted home.

Earlier in the day, Haryana ran into a tough opponent in Delhi. Former international Pritam Rani Siwach drew first blood for Delhi in the third minute. But the team failed to maintain the momentum set by Pritam and Haryana rallied hard for its victory.

The results (super league):

Pool E: Railways 9 (Surinder Kaur 2, Saba Anjum 2, Sarita Lakra, Rajwinder Kaur, Subhadra Pradhan, Asunta Lakra, Masira Surin) bt Jharkhand 2 (Amrita Minz, Annarita Kerketta).

Pool F: Haryana 3 (Balwinder Kaur, Simarjeet Kaur, Sandeep Kaur) bt Delhi 1 (Pritam Rani Siwach).

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