The Hindu : Sport : India comes up with a scintillating performance

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Tuesday, Sep 04, 2007
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India comes up with a scintillating performance

S. Thyagarajan

Leads the table in Pool ‘B’ and ensures itself a semifinal spot

— Photo: R. Ragu

BRILLIANT EFFORT: The Indian players celebrate Ignace Tirkey’s superb strike against South Korea.

Chennai: As another day meandered into hockey history in the BSNL-Asia Cup amidst strains of monotony earlier in the day, India produced a scintillating performance to ensure a semifinal spot after conquering the Asian Games champion, South Korea, by an odd goal in five at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium here.

Not in recent times has one witnessed the Indians serving such a delectable fare to a near packed audience producing three field goals — each one a gem both from the point of view of conception and execution. The whole display came like a perfect symphony, embellished by some mellifluous moves and eye-catching moments.

Whether the margin could have been bigger is a matter for debate.

The Indians did miss a few in the second half, but the efforts that went behind them were heroic.

Peach of a goal

What made the win more significant was the fact that the team surged back into the game after being in the arrears twice before Prabhjot Singh produced that peach of a goal for the match-winner.

Perhaps expectedly, it was a close contest, the teams elevating the whole aspect of it to a dramatic level.

The exchanges were crisp, fast and pulsating. After a long time it was a heartening to see the Indians retaining and regaining the initiative without losing control for long periods.

The Koreans, predictably threatening, displayed punch and power in every sally.

The Indian defence, notably the midfield, supported commendably by William Xalco and Dilip Tirkey, was like a bastion.

Immaculate may be the right epithet to portray the show of the midfield where everyone played his heart out.

High marks should go to the right-half Gurbaj Singh, who shaped many a sally. Equally praiseworthy was the flawless play of Sardar Singh. Both in interceptions and passing Sardar exuded a touch of confidence and charm.

The frontline came up with breathtaking patterns though in the final quarter co-ordination suffered a bit. It was during this part that the team failed to make the best of at least three chances after threading spectacular moves.

Quick recovery

When the Koreans struck midway through from a perfect penalty corner by Jang Jong Hyun, it appeared as though the Indians had lost the initiative.

But they recovered quickly, when Shivendra Singh clipped in a free hit from Dilip Tirkey into the boards for the equaliser.

A blinder of shot by Kang Seong Jung off a long pass by Kim Chul stunned Baljit Singh at the goal.

The lead, however, was ephemeral, as Ignace Tirkey came up with a superb effort, deflecting a cross from his brother, Prabhodh Tirkey, to bring the teams on par.

But close to half-time India slammed the match-winner with Prabhjot Singh executing a brilliant backhander from a cross by Bimal Lakra beating the Korean custodian Ko Dong Sik lock, stock and barrel.

In whichever way you look at, the tie was memorable in more than one aspect.

It showed emphatically that the aesthetics continues to be part and parcel of Indian hockey.

India leads the table in Pool ‘B’ with nine points from three successive victories.

Pakistan wins 8-0

Casting aside the trauma triggered by the 2-3 reverse against Japan, the Pakistanis were desperate to slot as many goals as possible to keep their chances alive in Pool ‘A’.

The 8-0 win against Singapore was an identical tally that Malaysia recorded on the opening day.

Having completed three matches with six points, Pakistan awaits the crucial encounter against Malaysia on Wednesday. The margin does look impressive but the Pakistanis were uncharacteristically lethargic, at least in the initial phase till Abbas Haider turned the tide late in the second half. The frontline was anything but cohesive and perfection remained elusive in the execution of penalty corners.

The cornucopia of goals in other matches indicated the desire of teams to enlarge the goal-aggregate against weak teams should that become the deciding factor in determining the qualifiers for the semifinal. The captains, Hu Heiren of China and Yamabori of Japan sparkled for the honours slotting half a dozen goals each.

The results:

Pool ‘A’: Japan 7 (Yamabori 6, Yashida Kazuo) bt Hong Kong 1 (Arif Ali) HT: 3-0; Player of the Match: Yamabori.

Pakistan 8 ( Muhammad Imran, Abbasi Haider 2, Tariq Aziz, Rehab Butt 2, Imran Khan, Ishanullah) bt Singapore 0; HT 4-0. Player of the Match: Lim Shi Hai Paul (Singapore’s custodian).

Pool ‘B’: China 13 (Hu Huiren 6, Meng Jun 2, Yu Yang 2, Lu Fenghui 2, Meng Lizhi) bt Thailand 0; HT-7-0. Player of the Match: Hu Huiren

Bangladesh 3 (Rasel Muhmud, Mamun, Zaidul Islam) bt Sri Lanka 2 (Hettiarachichi, Panditharatne) HT 1-1. Player of the Match: Rasel Muhmud.
India 3 (Shivendra Singh, Ignace Tirkey, Prabhjot Singh) bt Korea 2 (Jang Jong Hyun, Kang Seong Jung) HT-3-2; Player of the Match: Ignace Tirkey.

Tuesday’s matches: Hong Kong v Singapore (3 p.m.); India v Bangladesh (5 p.m.); Japan v Malaysia (7 p.m.).

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