— PHOTO: PTI

FINE SAVE: Tamil Nadu's goalkeeper Shanmugasundaram foils the attempt of Deepak Thakur of Indian Oil.

Jalandhar: Evidence of contests intensifying was clear as the super league part of the Dainik Bhaskar-Tracer Shoes National hockey championship for the Rangaswamy Cup sparked into life at the Surjit Stadium on Saturday. Even the 3-1 victory that the defending champion, Punjab and Sind Bank, registered can be reckoned as close given the spell of dominance that Services managed to gain in the contest.

Clearly unlucky was Tamil Nadu, which surrendered an opportunity for a draw six seconds before the hooter against Indian Oil. The outcome proved once again that aesthetic approach is no guarantee to success.

Brisk exchanges and bewitching moves marked the contest between Air-India and Mumbai with the former taking full points, thanks to an opportunistic goal by Osaf-ur-Rehman.

Agonising result

Tamil Nadu's agony can well be imagined. After holding on gallantly, and even gaining the equaliser shortly after the break through Sivabalan from a charming penalty corner conversion, Tamil Nadu ventured into a needless defensive phase in the closing minutes hoping for a draw.

No doubt such an outcome could have been image-boosting, given the star value attached to Indian Oil. But the defence invited pressure on it after an exemplary performance till then.

A beautiful workout by Deepak Thakur was finished brilliantly by Prabhjot Singh to give Indian Oil a lucky victory. Even a draw would not be an appropriate result for Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu's good work should be credited mainly to the mid-fielder, Suresh. Almost throughout, he never put a foot wrong, be it in passing or in trapping. The deep defenders Muthuselvan and Sivabalan did not allow the Indian Oil attack the required leeway. Left-half Muthukumar also should be commended for strengthening the defence. The Indian Oil attack relied mainly on the incisive runs of Bharat Chikara.

In the penalty corners too, Tamil Nadu came off well, thanks to the sharp reflexes displayed by goalkeeper Shanmugasundaram. He made an excellent save off a penalty corner from Bikramjit Singh, although the impeccable flick by Didar Singh bemused him.

Misfortune

Tamil Nadu's misfortune in the final minutes was the injury to Sivabalan who had to take medical help and the needless yellow card for Reuben. These happenings disconcerted the defence to a large extent. Still, the team had the power and strength in it to manage a draw.

For the defending champion, Punjab and Sind Bank it was not as easy as the margin might portray. Services was spasmodic in its attack led by Suresh Kumar and assisted by the hard-working Mahadik. It was Mahadik's efficiency in distributing the ball that kept the Services attack on the move till the final minutes.

After a listless first quarter, PSB forged ahead from a Kulwinder Singh's goal off a pass from Mandeep. And close on half-time Kulwinder struck again. But the best effort of the match came from Rajwinder Singh whose flick into the board was eye-catching.

The results:

Pool D: Punjab and Sind Bank 3 (Kulwinder Singh 2, Rajwinder Singh) bt Services 1 (A.K. Mahji) HT: 3-0; Pool B: Indian Oil 2 (Didar Singh, Prabhjot Singh) bt Tamil Nadu 1 (Sivabalan) HT: 0-0. Air India 1 (Osaf-ur-Rehman) bt Mumbai 0 - HT: 1-0.

Sunday's matches: Punjab v Namdhari XI (11 a.m.); Railways v Indian Oil (1 p.m.); Chandigarh v Punjab and Sind Bank (3 p.m.).

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