The Hindu : Sport : India drubs Belgium

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Wednesday, Jun 27, 2007
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Sport

Sport

India drubs Belgium

S. Thyagarajan

Kiwis continue winning march

India has six points from three matches
Argentina picks up full points against Japan

Boom (Belgium): Turning in an authoritative performance, India recorded a convincing 4-1 victory over Belgium in a crucial encounter of the men’s hockey Champions Challenge on Tuesday. India has six points from three matches.

Making impressive moves India gained a whiphand minutes after the start. Rajpal Singh on the right and Prabhjot Singh on the left harried the Belgium defence. Soon the attack got into the rhythm thanks to the excellent mid-field work by Gurbaj Singh and Bimal Lakra.

The Indians attacked with gusto and earned the first penalty corner, which was delectably converted by Sandeep Singh. Picking up the rhythm and encouraged by this success, India escalated pressure on the rival defence.

Prabhjot slams one

Midway through Prabhjot Singh slammed home a cross from Gurjaj Singh, who had latched up to a pass from Bimal Lakra.

Stunned by the consistency of the Indian attack, the Belgians were clueless until Charles Vandeweghe took the initiative. A penalty corner surfaced and was converted with élan by Gregory Gucasoff.

But the Indians wrested control and Shivendra enlarged the margin with a diving deflection from a pass by Gurbaj Singh. The Indians led 3-1 at halftime.

Egged on by the home crowd, the Belgians attacked with vigour in the second half stretching the Indian defence, which stood its ground well. In the closing minutes Dilip Tirkey hammered home a penalty corner.

Argentina managed to pick up full points against Japan to keep its chances alive for a place in the final. Initially, it looked as though Japan held the edge but Argentina, led well by the mercurial Rodrigo Vila, piled on the pressure to force the Japanese defence into a pool of errors. That as many as six penalty corners surfaced in the first session is sufficient commentary on the inadequacy of the Japanese defenders to smother the rival attack.

Flicker Padro Ibarra drove home the second penalty corner and Rodrigo Vila put the finishing touches to a penalty corner sequence not long after. Argentina led 2-0 at half-time.

For no palpable reason, Argentina went on the defensive to lock in the 2-0 lead but that allowed the Japanese to mount a reasonable degree of pressure.

Poor finishing

A goal seemed imminent every time when the Japanese attack overwhelmed the rival defence but poor finishing marred the outcome of the moves.

Katyama and Yamabori made gallant efforts to keep the frontline on their toes. The Argentines were desperate to stop the Japanese from running away with the goal. Brusque tackles reflected the desperation of the Argentine concern.

Nothing showed it more than the yellow card that skipper Alamada received in the final minutes.

Argentina has six points from three matches against Japan’s three from the same number of matches.

Third win

The Kiwis continued their march towards the final with a third win in as many matches eclipsing the struggling English team in the second encounter by three goals to one.

The New Zealanders whose methodic efficiency is now well acknowledged slowly gained the advantage. From the first penalty corner in the 10th minute, New Zealand hoisted the lead through Ryan Archibald, who played a commendable role in the victory, following a penalty corner hit by Hayden Shaw.

The equaliser

England fought back well in the second half and produced the equaliser from a penalty corner skirmish by Rob Moore, who flicked a rebound from goalkeeper, Pontifax, after Richard Alexander had taken the shot.

Within minutes, the Kiwis surged ahead from a penalty corner flick by Shaw to wrest the advantage that was built up by a penalty stroke goal by Dean Couzins.

New Zealand has nine points against the nil by England.

Wednesday is a rest day.

The results: India 4 (Sandeep Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Shivendra Singh, Dilip Tirkey) bt Belgium 1 (Gregory Gucasoff).