The Hindu : Sport / Hockey : IOC, Indian Airlines in last four

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Sunday, Dec 24, 2006
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IOC, Indian Airlines in last four

Sports Reporter

CHENNAI: The stronger teams reached the semifinals of the MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament as expected, at SDAT-Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium on Saturday. Indian Oil Corporation ousted defending champion Army XI with an impressive 2-0 victory. In the other match, Indian Airlines defeated Tamil Nadu XI 2-0.

With a line-up comprising several internationals, nothing less was expected from IOC, and the team delivered as each player stuck to his task. Viren Rasquinha controlled the midfield quietly without attracting too much attention. With Rajpal Singh, Didar Singh and captain Deepak Thakur contributing their mite, IOC controlled the match from the beginning.

Indian discard Prabhjot Singh was always waiting for a chance to strike. But seldom did he get an opportunity to convert. After fourteen minutes of toying with the Army XI, IOC scored with Deepak Thakur pushing one home in the midst of a goal-line melee off a pass from the right by Didar Singh.

It was not that Army XI did not have the firepower to withstand the IOC blitzkrieg. It had a water-tight defence, but the flaw clearly lay in the forward line's inefficacy. Due mention must be made of Pawal Lakra who stood firm thwarting quite a few IOC raids.

IOC maintained the pressure on the other hand. Raghu Prasad, who got the lone yellow card in the match, converted off a penalty corner to make it 2-0.

Pillay in fine nick

Multiple Olympian Dhanraj Pillay was in his element. With passage of time, his role has changed to that of a feeder than that of a key striker. But his touch and ball sense have not waned. IOC opened the account with a well-executed move. Pillay's first pass triggered Airlines goal. Vinay in turn relayed it Arjun Halappa at the right flank. Halappa's neat cross found Sameer Dad, whose withering shot gave little chance for the goalkeeper to react.

Vinay and Halappa kept coming at Tamil Nadu XI, whose defence did well to nip in the bud quite a few goal-threatening moves. Pillay, as usual, gave the team the guidance and direction it needed. Pawan struck ten minutes into the second half. Taking a pass from Vinay, Pawan had the width to place his shot.

Tamil Nadu was clearly the inferior side. Its forward line, barring a late flourish towards the dying minutes, failed to make an impact. The moment it entered the circle, it seemed that pressure got on to them forcing them to mess things up. The best opportunity emerged towards the dying minutes of the game.

The semifinal line-up: BPCL v Namdhari XI; IOC v Indian Airlines.

The results (quarterfinals): IOC 2 (Deepak Thakur, Raghu Prasad) bt Army XI 0: Man of the match: Pawal Lakra; Indian Airlines 2 (Sameer Dad, Pawan) bt Tamil Nadu XI 0; Man of the match: Arjun Halappa.

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