The Hindu : Sport / Hockey : Punjab & Sind Bank and Punjab make it to the semifinals

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Friday, Jun 29, 2007
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Punjab & Sind Bank and Punjab make it to the semifinals

Sports Reporter

Manipur’s dream run comes to an end; SAI goes down with guns blazing

— Photo: M. Vedhan

SUCCESSFUL DIVE: Prabhdeep Singh’s acrobatics ended in a goal for Punjab in its quarterfinal tie against Manipur.

CHENNAI: The whole stadium must have felt for Manipur. If at all there is one State which has played a silken and most importantly a fair game, it is hard to point out a team other than Manipur.

In the St. Joseph’s-TNHA junior National men’s hockey championship at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium here on Thursday, Manipur’s 3-1 defeat at the hands of Punjab in the quarterfinals, made observers wonder at the talent that is available in the North-Eastern States including Mizoram.

Later, Punjab and Sind Bank, playing its customary attacking style of hockey, overcame SAI 3-2 after leading 3-0 for most part of the contest.

While Manipur’s frontline came up trumps against Karnataka the other day, the same forwardline bungled against Punjab, messing up at least four opportunities in the first session.

Unique style

There has hardly been a rough tackle from Manipur’s side in the tournament. It has set a certain standard which will be difficult for others to emulate. Apart from being disciplined, Manipur has attracted one and all through its unique style; quick without being so, aggressive without being pushy.

Punjab, a side full of confidence after the 7-1 win over Uttaranchal earlier, never let go off the momentum. It kept up the pressure. It made less threatening moves than Manipur but it made them count.

Ten minutes into the match, Punjab scored through Prabhdeep Singh. He lunged forward to push the ball home after a fierce shot by Deepak Sharma was padded away by the goalkeeper.

Manipur continued to do what it is capable of — stitching incisive moves. In one such effort, Hamjit had a golden chance to convert. With the goalkeeper Shakthi Singh out of the picture, Hamjit was a trifle slow and his feeble shot was stopped by defender Jaskaran Singh at the goalline.

Navjot Singh, Gagandeep Singh and Sanjay Kumar Bhir made quite a few whirlwind moves for Punjab. Seven minutes into the second session, Punjab increased the lead.

Brilliant effort

A brilliant run-in by Navjot from the right saw him pass the ball to Sanjay. Sanjay’s shot, however, rebounded off the custodian’s stick and Navjot was there to push it home.

Joy Chandra reduced the lead by converting off a penalty corner. The hero of Punjab’s win against Uttaranchal, Gurpreet Singh, scored off an immaculate penalty corner to settle the issue for Punjab.

Punjab and Sind Bank has been the best team so far, though there have been snide remarks about the players’ huge physique. PSB’s 3-2 victory over SAI reflected its frontline’s efficiency.

Fighting back

SAI, though outplayed, fought back in the second session to reduce the victory margin. Down 3-0, SAI found its nick with two goals in the space of four minutes. Both the goals were scored by Jay Karan.

Punjab will take on PSB, while Tamil Nadu meets Air-India in the last four clashes on Friday.

The results (second phase quarterfinals):