The Hindu : Sport / Hockey : Sultans registers win

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Wednesday, Jan 10, 2007
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Sport - Hockey

Sultans registers win

S. Thyagarajan

DODGING AHEAD: Nithin Kumar (right) of Hyderabad Sultans dribbles past Hement Gethe of Maratha Warriors during their Premier Hockey League match. — Photo: R. Ragu

Chennai : Casting aside the despondency arising out of the two successive defeats so far, Hyderabad Sultans, the former champion, tasted success with a deserving 2-1 victory over Maratha Warriors in the Premier Hockey League at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium on Tuesday.

All the three goals came from the Paksitani stars — two from Shakeel Abbasi for Hyderabad Sultans and one for the Warriors by Imran Warsi.

The outcome brought Sultans three points from as many matches while Warriors have five from four matches.

By no stretch of imagination was it a high-quality encounter. But there was intensity, and some thrilling phases kept the moderate crowd interested. The Hyderabad Sultans had the advantage till about half-time, thanks to the Pakistani combination of Shakeel Abbasi and Tariq Aziz.

Served well from the mid-field by Vikram Pillay and Johnson Ekka, the frontline came up with a few threatening sallies stretching the hard working Warrriors' defence headed by Viren Resquinha assisted by Gurbaj Singh.

Unlucky to not score

Prominent in the Sultans' frontline also was the fleet footed Ajitesh Rai. A few of his runs caused alarm. It was a pity that he did not figure in the list of scorers for Hyderabad Sultans. Didar Singh too played his part well, but failed to make the scorers' chart.

Only late in the first half did the Warriors find rhythm. All the hard work of Resquinha and Gurbaj failed to inject verve in the frontline, despite some quick moves by Shivendra Singh and Warsi.

Hyderabad Sultans went ahead in the second quarter. A sequence of some skilful passing between Tariq Aziz and Shakeel Abbasi culminated in the latter beating Adrian D'Souza all ends up. There was noticeable flair in the Sultans' attack after that. Had Didar finished a lovely pass from Ajitesh Rai, the Sultans would have enlarged the lead. Didar shot wide of the mark.

Gaining upper hand

Slowly, the Warriors gained the upper hand profiting from Warsi's sharp moves. And midway through, Warsi found the target with a stinging shot off Shivendra. Within a minute Shivendra served a neat pass to Hemant Gethe, but the latter fumbled when the goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan was at his mercy.

Just as one thought the match was heading for a draw at the regulation time and going into extra-time, came the match-winner from Shakeel Abbasi. A cross from the left wing caught the entire Warriors' defence off guard. Even D'Souza was out of his charge. Abbasi had an empty goal in front, and pushed the ball into the boards.

A speck of rough play in the final minutes resulted in a yellow card suspension for the Warriors' Gaurav Tokhi and Sultans' Saranjit Singh.

The result: Hyderabad Sultans 2 (Shakeel Abbasi 2) bt Maratha Warriors 1 (Imran Warsi). MOM: Shakeel Abbasi.

Wednesday's match: Chennai Veerans v Bangalore Lions (7 p.m.)

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