The Hindu : Sport : India struggles to defeat Japan

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Sunday, Jul 01, 2007
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India struggles to defeat Japan

S. Thyagarajan

Argentina and New Zealand qualify for final

— Photo: PTI

ON TARGET: Sandeep Singh converts a penalty corner for India’s first goal.

Boom: When New Zealand and Argentina confirmed their places in the final, India was left with no option but to come in line for a bronze in the men’s hockey Champions Challenge here on Saturday.

The 4-3 victory, which gave India its third win and nine points, emerged from an amalgam of proficiency and a pathetic pool of errors in the last quarter which raised visions of a draw.

Granting that a victory, is a victory, even against an opponent like Japan, consistency was not a virtue with the frontline, although Prabhjot Singh struck twice. However, the mid-field, especially pivot Bimal Lakra, functioned well.

Touch of elegance

There was a touch of elegance in the manner in which Bimal intercepted and passed. Never did he put the stick wrong and figured prominently in almost every move. He had a hand in paving the way for the first penalty corner and also provided a lovely pass for Prabhjot Singh to score the third goal of the match.

To a lesser extent, wing half-backs Gurbaj and Prabhodh Tirkey laboured to keep the rivals under control. Full-back William Xalco appeared as authoritative in the zone as much as veteran Dilip Tirkey.

The frontline suffered from want of passes from the inside forwards. Sardara Singh flopped for the major part as did Shivendra for the time he was on the field.

Left to fend for themselves, Prabjhot and Rajpal had to rely on their experience. A yellow card for Rajpal before half-time was another setback.

When Sandeep Singh flicked into the roof of the net from the first penalty corner the course appeared to be well charted. But the Indians were not prepared for the immediate retaliation.

Caught napping

An impeccable deflection by Katayama caught Baljit Singh — played in preference to Adrian — on the wrong foot. But, subsequently, the alert goalkeeper brought off a few lovely saves.

Prabhjot Singh tapped in a rebound off a penalty corner strike by Sandeep and before half-time India increased the lead when Prabhjot Singh latched on to a cross from Bimal to find the target.

Within minutes of resumption an error by Xalco led to a penalty corner which, Yamabori, converted with glee. But Dilip Tirkey pumped in the fourth goal. At 4-2 everything looked rosy for India.

Never the ones to take defeat lying down and drawing on every ounce of energy left, the Japanese began exerting pressure. The Indians, obviously complacent, allowed things to drift. This caused a vacuum in the defence resulting in India conceding a goal five minutes from the end. A second yellow for Sunil Yadav only accentuated the excitement.

Coach Carvalho said the team had the potential to be in the final and that being not there was a great disappointment. He felt the yellow card decisions against the Indians were harsh.

Pulsating encounter

With a demonstration that underlined its fighting qualities, Argentina confirmed its place alongside New Zealand in the final. The 3-3 verdict, which was enough to see the teams fighting for the trophy on Sunday, contained almost all the ingredients of a pulsating contest: the equaliser by New Zealand came 34 seconds before the final whistle. The Argentines exuded a lot of ardour and vigour in their workouts, keeping the Kiwis under pressure almost throughout. Though Philip Burrows produced a goal off a penalty corner, Lucas Vilas came up with a stunner of a backhander that left goalkeeper Pontifex stupefied by the pace and trajectory of the blinder.

Before half-time, Garratta put the finishing touches to a combined move for a half-time lead of 2-1. Hayden Shaw levelled the score with a thundering penalty corner. Just a minute before the close Lucas Vila hit in a penalty corner. Just as Argentina was rejoicing at the scent of victory came another Hayden Shaw effort off a penalty corner to give a deserving 3-3 result to the match.

India will take on England in the bronze medal match after the latter overwhelmed Belgium 6-2. India had beaten England 3-2 in the pool match.

The results: New Zealand 3 (Phil Burrows, Hayden Shaw 2) drew with Argentina 3 (Lucas Vila 2, Juan Garratta).

India 4 (Sandeep Singh, Prabhjhot Singh 2, Dilip Tirkey) bt Japan 3 (Katyama, Yamabori, Tsubouchi).

England 6 (Martin Jones, Matt Daly 2, Simon Mantell 2, Jhonty Clarke) beat Belgium 2 (Jerome Dekeyser, Gregory Gucasoff).

Table of points (read as played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points):

New Zealand 5-3-2-0-15-7-11; Argentina 5-3-1-1-13-10-10; India 5-3-0-2-12-10-9; England 5-2-0-3-16-15-6; Belgium 5-1-1-3-10-17-4; Japan 5-1-0-4-8-15-3.

Sunday’s matches: 5-6 Japan v Belgium (4 p.m.); 3-4: India v England (6-30 p.m.) Final: Argentina v New Zealand (9 p.m.).

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