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TN edges out Bihar to enter last eight

Sports Reporter

Air-India defeats Namdhari; Mizoram creates history

ON TARGET: Heartlin James of Tamil Nadu nets the second goal against Bihar.

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu’s 2-1 win over Bihar masked its lethargic and lukewarm performance in the St. Joseph’s-TNHA junior National men’s hockey championship at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium here on Thursday.

The host entered the quarterfinals (knock-out stage). Tamil Nadu, with three wins under its belt, will take on Vidarbha in its last group match.

In the huge victories over Madhya Bharath and Gujarat, what went unaddressed was Tamil Nadu’s defence.

Under sustained pressure exerted by the Bihar forwardline, which was exemplary in the first session, Tamil Nadu was stretched to the extreme.

The much-celebrated Tamil Nadu forwards, who excelled on the first three days, could not do anything positive on the field in the first-half. Mispasses were galore, trappings were below par and the counter-attacks lacked the speed and the push.

Even without its captain Bhim Kumar, who could not play because of the three green cards he had got in the earlier matches, the Bihar boys played attractive and aggressive hockey.

Rizauddin struck in the 17th minute with a rasping top-of-the-circle shot. If there was one thing constant in Bihar’s scheme of things, it was attack.

The host sprung a surprise soon. In a penalty corner conversion, Arun Stalin David’s straight drive was wonderfully deflected by Vinod Rayer over the custodian’s head.

It seemed the goal gave the team a touch of self-confidence. Tamil Nadu slowly got into its groove in the second half, though only marginally. The defence began to intercept and anticipate the opponent’s moves.

Heartlin James scored what turned out the winning goal. Meganathan’s pass from the far right touched a defender’s stick and went straight to an unmarked James who scooped it into the net.

Bihar gave it all in an effort to equalise, but the Tamil Nadu defenders were up to the task. Tamil Nadu’s coach, C.R. Kumar, admitted it was not the best of performance by his wards.

Needing a victory to make it to the last eight, Air-India shot out Namdhari 3-2. It led 3-0 at half time before Namdhari struck two goals in the second session.

Air-India scored through Arjun Antil, Ashish Minz and Innocent Kullu in a fast-paced match, which was dominated by the Mumbai team in the first-half. Gurbaj Singh and Mandeep Antil converted one goal each for Namdhari.

Mizoram celebrated its 5-2 win over Haryana as this was the first time in its history that it has entered the quarterfinals in either juniors or seniors sections. It was a fine performance as Mizoram has not lost a match at this level.

IOC has two wins from Pool ‘G’ while Chandigarh has a win and a draw from the same pool. The face-off between the two on Friday will be keenly watched as the winner will enter the knock-out stage.

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