The Hindu : Sport : India secures semifinal berth

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Aug 20, 2006

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Sport

India secures semifinal berth

S.R. Suryanarayan

Bangladesh goes down fighting in football

BRAVO: Branco Vincentodozo (left), who scored India's second goal against Bangladesh on Saturday. — PHOTO: AP

COLOMBO: The Indian team, which fielded under-20 players, defeated Bangladesh 2-1 and secured a semifinal berth in the football event of the South Asian Games here on Saturday.

As the score line suggested it was indeed a close match, particularly with Bangladesh coming up with an inspired display in the final phase but failing to outwit the gutsy Paul Shilton under the bar. Coach Akhmedov considers him one of India's best junior goalkeepers and the youngster lived up to the expectations with a splendid show.

With rain interfering at frequent intervals to leave the ground damp it was a pitiable sight at the Sugathadasa Stadium. The turf was in a poor state after the opening ceremony that became worse once the match progressed.

Adaptability

Under the circumstances adaptability was the key word. The Indians made offence as the better option and showed admirable body control to unsettle the rivals.

After taking territorial advantage early, India pushed ahead in the 14th minute when Lalmalsawma created an opening and in a flash Sushil Kumar Singh sent a left-footer into the cage.

The Indians did not relax after the breakthrough. Zadinmawia and Branco Vincentodozo raided the Bangladesh territory frequently. A long cross from Naoba Singh from right came perfectly for Branco to send in a header past the hapless M.N. Shakil in the 27th minute. The goalkeeper was replaced in the second session. Bangladesh regrouped in the second session and the arrival of Robin boosted the attack.

Unfortunately for India, Hirohito was caught handling the ball and Referee Rashed Riyaz of Maldives signalled a penalty. Firoj Mohmud Hossain made no mistake (68th minute). The goal lifted Bangladesh's morale and it attacked relentlessly.

Shilton came to the rescue of the Indians many times. As expectedly the coach reserved a big hug for the day's hero. "I told the boys we have to go for a result and they did it," said the happy coach.

Rehan Poncha, Lekha Kamat and Arjun Jayaprakash set records as the Indians went on a gold spree, winning six out of seven at stake on the opening day of the swimming event.

Rehan's success came in the 400m freestyle, clocking 4:05.94s, a new SAF record, eclipsing he earlier record of 4:09.74 in the name of another Indian, Abijith. Lekha clocked 27.70s in 50m freestyle to erase the 28.47 mark, while Arjun Jayaprakash's effort (2:27.12s) came in the 200m breaststroke.

At the St. Thomas College hall, where the table tennis events were conducted, India beat Maldives and Nepal 3-0. Defending champion India ensured a semifinal berth in the women's team event from Group A. If Kasturi Chakraborty, Nandita Saha and Shamini teamed up against Maldives then Poulami Ghatak, National champion Mouma Das and Nandita Saha did the job against Nepal.

In the three-team group, Nepal beat Maldives 3-0 to follow India into the next stage. From Group B host Sri Lanka succeeded in beating Pakistan with a 3-0 win to qualify as group topper. Pakistan took the second spot and will face India in the semifinals. Sri Lanka will play Nepal.

Good show

There was good news for India at the University of Moratuwa rowing course where at the end of the first day, India had bagged all the four gold medals at stake. The most creditable performance was S. Bajrang Lal Takhar's, an army man from Sikha in Rajasthan in the single and double skull races. He won the gold in both, the second partnering B. Sunil Kumar. The coxless pair of B. Dharmesh Sangwan and S. Sathish Joshi as also the men's coxless four of B. Manoj Augustine, Gurudarshan Singh, Sukhjeet Singh and Jehil Krishnan were the other gold medal winners for India.

Indians in semifinals

Four Indians moved into the squash semifinals. Harinderpal Singh beat Navin Samarasinghe (Sri Lanka) 9-3, 9-0,9-4, while Gaurav Nandrajog defeated Samar Tillakaratne 9-4, 9-0, 9-4 in the men's section. Joshna Chinappa made short work of Chitij Gurung of Nepal 9-0, 9-0, 9-0 and Dipika Pallikal ousted Bhavna Sunuwar also of Nepal in straight games.

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