The Hindu : Sport : India edges past the unrelenting Chinese

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Saturday, Sep 01, 2007
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India edges past the unrelenting Chinese

S. Thyagarajan

Malaysia, Korea, Bangladesh and Pakistan indulge in a goal fest

— Photo: R. Ragu

MID-FIELD ACTION: India’s Sardar Singh and De Yunze of China vie for possession.

Chennai: Amidst a goal glut on the opening day of the BSNL-Asia Cup hockey championship, India was subjected to a tough battle by the unrelenting Chinese in pool B at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium here on Friday.

The solitary goal victory from an immaculate penalty corner masks more than it displays about India’s tense 70 minutes.

Haunted by the defeat in the Doha Games, the Indians were unwilling to venture into something new and imaginative.

True, they held the whip-hand in exchanges thanks to the fluent long passes that Dilip Tirkey and Gurbaj Singh were serving. But they were unprepared for the impeccable trapping of the Chinese in the zone, and more importantly, inside the circle.

Goal disallowed

There were errors which the Chinese defence committed to concede as many as five penalty corners in the first half. Flicker Raghunath tried his valiant best to convert, and in fact, did one.

But the Dutch umpire, Michiel Brunning disallowed it for not stopping the ball correctly.

Again, in a penalty corner sequence, there was an obstruction that forced the Dutchman to signal a stroke. A protest from the Chinese defence forced him to consult his colleague from Ghana who negated the award.

But for all that, India did show a modicum of flavour and fervour in its movements. This came largely on account of the consistent mid-field play in which Gurbaj and Prabodh were prominent.

Tirkey strikes

Even as one thought of why the team did not attempt a direct hit, the answer came from the old warhorse, Dilip Tirkey.

In a tricky exchange, he finished with a thundering drive to hoist the lead, which became the deciding factor in the encounter. To showcase the rest of the contests in a technical perspective for a critical analysis will be a futile exercise.

The margins recorded by Korea, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Pakistan reflected the unequal strength of the opponents who just make the numbers to keep the statisticians busy.

There was nothing wrong in the fervour demonstrated by the teams that were humiliated by the leeway. What they lacked were experience and expertise, even history.

Underdog cheered

The crowd was ever willing to back the underdog. The spontaneous cheers that erupted when Sri Lanka’s Gazalli netted twice against the formidable Koreans clearly mirrored this. So was the adulation when Arif Ali slugged in a penalty corner to lower the colours of a renowned star as Salman Akbar under the bar.

Such results, however, are inescapable in competitions involving countries where the sport is yet to take firm root. But this did not come in the way of popular scorers figuring prominently.

Jang Jong Hyun, for instance, is a world class star. Small wonder, he pumped in four penalty corners with Kim Byung Hyun for Korea. Equally eye-catching were the drag flicks of Zulflikli of Malaysia against Singapore in the morning.

Touch of élan

Shakeel Abbasi showed a touch of élan in the two goals he netted against Hong Kong for Pakistan. The response from the coaches to the performances was mixed. While Pakistan’s Islahuddin believed that the team was on the right path, Korea’s Myung Jun felt that the Koreans were stiff and not moving as fluently as they were expected to be. Mr. Moideen Khan, Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs, inaugurated the championship. The Indian and Chinese teams were presented to him.

The results: Pool A: Malaysia 8 (Zulkiflii Rehab 2, Azlan Misron 2, Ismail Abu 2, Chua Boon Huat 2) beat Singapore 0; HT: 3-0. Player of the match: Zulkifli.

Pakistan 6 (Muhammad Imran 2, Shakeel Abbasi 2, Ishanullah, Imran Khan) beat Hong Kong (China) 1 (Arif Ali). HT: 3-0. Player of the match: Shakeel Abbasi.

Pool B: Bangladesh 13 (Rasel Muhmad 4, Hasan Khandokar, Iqbal Nadir 2, Mumun 3, Zahid-ul-Islam 2) beat Thailand 0; HT: 5-0. Player of the Match: Rasel Muhmad.

Korea 12 (Oh Dae Keun, Lee Jae Won, Kim Byung Hoon 4, Jang Jong Hyun 4, Kang Moon Kweon, Kang Seong Jung) beat Sri Lanka 2 (M.M. Gazalli 2). HT: 6-0. Player of the match: Jang Jong Hyun.

India 1 (Dilip Tirkey) beat China 0. HT: 0-0. Player of the match: Dilip Tirkey.

Saturday’s matches: Korea v Thailand (2 p.m.); Malaysia v Hong Kong (4 p.m.) (Pitch- 2); Japan v Pakistan (3 p.m.); China v Bangladesh (5 p.m.); India v Sri Lanka (7 p.m.).

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