The Hindu : Sport : Gurnam Singh is Punjab’s hero

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 30, 2007
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Sport

Sport

Gurnam Singh is Punjab’s hero

Sports Reporter

Air-India gets past Tamil Nadu

— Photo: M. Vedhan

MIDFIELD BATTLE: Shivdeep (left) of Air-India tries to dodge past Tamil Nadu’s Laxman Karan.

CHENNAI: The moment the final whistle was blown, Punjab goalkeeper Gurnam Singh went down on his knees and skidded on the lush green astro-turf even as his teammates and support staff rushed to congratulate him.

The 18-year-old, who saved quite a few penalty corner strikes by the Punjab and Sind Bank players, turned out to be instrumental in Punjab’s 2-1 win over PSB in the semifinals of the St. Joseph’s-TNHA junior National men’s hockey championship at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium here on Friday.

In the other semifinal, Air-India stopped Tamil Nadu in its tracks with a 2-0 victory. The final — Air-India vs Punjab — will be held on Saturday.

Standing firm

It was a different Punjab side today as its frontline displayed radiance and purpose rarely seen in the tournament. While the wingers put up an exceptional display, the defenders stood firm against the marauding PSB forwards.

Hardly 10 minutes into the contest, Punjab shot into the lead. Trapping a pass from Saproor Singh, Sanjay Kumar Bhir effected a firm drive which deflected off a defender’s stick into the post.

PSB suffered further setback minutes later when Navjot Singh scored from close range in an eye-catching set-piece with Simranjeet Singh.

Taken aback by the two goals, PSB lost its rhythm, and the midfielders and the forwards seemed to have lost the plot.

However, late in the second half, PSB began to organise itself. Off the nine penalty corners PSB had, six were in the second half. Gurvinder Singh converted one in the 51st minute to reduce the margin for PSB.

However, Punjab goalkeeper Gurnam’s fine anticipation and quick reflexes during penalty corners helped him save nearly four certain goals.

Disappointing

Later in the evening, the much-anticipated clash between Air-India and the host only provided disappointment. Not because the home team lost but because of the way both teams played.

Tamil Nadu fared marginally better in the first session with its frontline and midfield showing better understanding. Still, it conceded a goal off a penalty corner converted by Vinod Kumar, who gleefully accepted the rebound off goalkeeper Bharani Kumar’s pads.

The second goal was a repeat of the first with Danish Mujtaba pushing it home this time.

Tamil Nadu and PSB will fight it out for the third place before the summit clash.

The results (semifinals):