The Hindu : Sport : PSB retains Rangaswamy Cup

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Saturday, Nov 04, 2006
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PSB retains Rangaswamy Cup

S. Thyagarajan

Posts a convincing win over Delhi in the final

— Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

TRIUMPHANT SMILES: The Punjab and Sind Bank team strikes a happy pose after winning the National hockey championship on Friday.

Jalandhar: Amidst the ambience that typically mirrored the vibrant Punjabi ethos, the city based Punjab and Sind Bank retained the Rangaswamy Cup in the Dainik Bhaskar-Tracer Shoes National hockey championship here on Friday. The 3-1 victory recorded by the defending champion against Delhi was absolute and convincing.

Those who remained sceptical over the form and quality displayed by PSB till this encounter will now have to accept that the team remains a major force. Probably, it preserved the best for the occasion. And rose as the players did to meet the expectations of their supporters, the opposition was simply winkled out of contention, save for a brief second half vibrancy.

No exaggeration

It is no exaggeration to state that if only the PSB attack, which dominated the tie from the push off, had seized all their chances the margin might have resembled a tennis set score, or more.

Within minutes after the start, a crisp move conceived and executed by Baljit Singh Chandi and Parminder Singh went waste with the usually sharp shooting Rajwinder Singh directing the ball away from the target. As though this was not enough Mandeep Singh missed an easy chance after being put through by Chandi.

The fire in the PSB frontline was ignited by the sparkling display from Chandi. This gangling inside forward produced a bagful of forward passes that were precise, penetrative and pleasing. Chandi was not only the play maker but came up with a few stunning runs, and could even have scored a goal or two had he not been selfish. Former Olympian Baljit Singh Saini flashed into the picture now and then as did the other midfielder, Sandeep Singh.

Tentative

Rajwinder and Mandeep remained the tormentors for the tentative and timorous Delhi defence that slid down the valley of uncertainty at the first sign of alarm. There were too many loose balls left inside the circle that gave no comfort to goal-keeper Jasbir Singh. It was one of those unguarded passes that let Mandeep set up Rajwinder for the first goal. He angled the ball beautifully to the left leaving Jasbir stranded on the line.

Again, the phlegmatic Delhi defence invited trouble. Parminder Singh, the opportunist that he is, plucked the ball and produced a spectacular drive from the fringe of the circle that met with no resistance. With the score reading 2-0, the match was given up as dead, since Delhi showed no urgency or spirit to fight back.

The third goal

Shortly after the break came the third goal for PSB when Parminder Singh deflected a neat pass from Kulwinder Singh. That effectively sealed the fate of the encounter, although there were perceptible signs of Delhi showing some pep bordering on adventurism. Mid-fielder Rajinder and inside forward Bikash Topno worked hard to put some life as did Damandeep Singh.

But beyond a point, it was not easy to get the well-set defence out of its rhythm. In the closing minutes however Delhi met with success when Topno swept in from a goalmouth skirmish that surfaced from a drive from Prem Kumar.

The Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, gave away the trophy.

The results: Final: Punjab and Sind Bank 3 (Rajwinder Singh, Parminder Singh 2) beat Delhi 1 (Bikash Topno). HT 2-0.

Third place: Indian Oil 7 (Prabhjot Singh 2, Inderjit Singh 2, Bharat Chikra, Bikramjit Singh 2) beat Namdhari XI 2 (Sher Singh, Gurpreet Singh). HT 2-1.

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