The Hindu : Sport : India ends phase one with an impeccable record

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Friday, Sep 07, 2007
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India ends phase one with an impeccable record

S. Thyagarajan

Malaysia will meet Korea in the semifinals; shock exit for Pakistan

— Photo: M. Vedhan

IN HIS ELEMENT: India’s Raghunath was a busy man, slotting in six goals in the match against Thailand.

Chennai: The semifinalists were spotted in the BSNL-Asia Cup hockey championship at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium on Thursday as India ended the phase one with an impeccable record by outclassing Thailand 16-0.

Never in recent memory has India maintained such a majestic course to the last four, winning all the five matches with a whopping tally of 46 goals.

India will take on Japan in the semifinals on Saturday, while Malaysia will meet Korea in the other match. Finally, the tussle between Korea and China boiled down to the goal difference. Korea moved up with a plus 33, while China, which beat Sri Lanka 10-2, fell short by seven goals down to slip into the third place in the pool ‘B’. Both finished with 10 points.

When Japan outplayed Singapore the outcome signalled the exit for Pakistan from the semifinal line-up. This is the first time since the inception of the tournament in 1982 that Pakistan, three-time winner of the cup, will be going home without playing in the last four. This is very disheartening indeed for a large number of supporters here.

New high

This was another day of high-scoring matches with India ending the pool with a new high watermark of 46 goals, which was five short of 51 recorded by Pakistan in the inaugural Asia Cup in 1982 at Karachi. This is the highest number of goals by India in any tournament. The previous record by India was 43 in the Moscow Olympic Games in 1980.

The star of India’s win over Thailand was the drag-flicker Raghunath, who obtained six goals netting five-in-a-row. India forced 11 penalty corners out of which Raghunath successfully flicked in half a dozen.

The weak Thai team struggled to cope with the system and formations of the Indians who held the whip hand from the push off.

The frontline managed to weave in a few eye-catching sallies and there were some fluent finishes too.

The goals by Tushar and Prabhjot were a treat to behold as were the deflections by Rajpal Singh.

Japan’s Yamabori figured again among scorers in the match against Singapore, while skipper Hu Huiren was prominent in China’s 10-2 win over Sri Lanka.

Now it is almost certain that the Champions Trophy will move out of Pakistan with Korea also confirming a pull-out. Working on the proposal to stage the event the Indian Hockey Federation is preparing to make a formal bid, outlining its experience gained from hosting two editions at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in 1996 and 2005.

The formal bid from the IHF office is to be transmitted on Friday to Mr. Dennis Meredith, Events Manager, in FIH, which also considers the bid from Malaysia. A clear picture about the next edition of the Champions Trophy will emerge by the beginning of next week to allow sufficient time for teams to prepare their programme.

A proposal to revive the all-star Asian tour is to be taken up for discussion during the council meeting of the Asian Hockey Federation on September 8. Islahuddin, manager and coach of the Pakistan team and an icon of Asian hockey, is preparing the blueprint with the IHF Secretary, K. Jothikumaran.

As programmed now, the tour is likely to come off after the conclusion of the Olympic qualifiers in March 2008. Ishlahuddin believes ideally the tour should cover matches in India, Paksitan, Malaysia, Korea, China and Bangladesh. All efforts will be made to include matches in Duabi, Abu Dhabi and other gulf countries. A representative from UAE Hockey Federation is expected to visit India shortly to finalise the programme.

Meanwhile, the IHF is working on the feasibility of having a series of matches between all-star teams from Asia and Europe if a time slot could be arranged between the federations. Mr. Jothikumaran is working on the project in response to the suggestion from Mr. David Balbernie, Secretary, European HF. If the idea becomes a reality, then a series of matches will be played in Dubai, taking advantage of impeccable facilities at the Dubai Sports City.

The results:

Pool ‘A’: Japan 8 (Yamabori 3, Yoshida Kazuo, Akira Ito, Mitsuru Ito, Sho Ota, Tsubouchi Kuzhuhiro) bt Singapore 0; HT-5-0. Player of the Match: Tsubouchi Yamabori.

Pool ‘B’: China 10 (Hu Huiren 3, Hu Liang, De Yunze 3, Jang Xi Shang 2, Meng Lizhi) bt Sri Lanka 2 (Camer, Paditharatne); HT-3-0. Player of the Match: Hu Huiren. Korea 8 (Jong Jang Hyun 4, Yoon Sang Hoon, Kang Moon Kweon 2, Kim Jong Hoon) bt Bangladesh 0; HT-5-0. Player of the Match: Jang Jong Hyun. India 16 (Raghunath 6, Rajapal Singh 3, Prabhjot Singh 3, Tushar Khandekar 2, Sunil, Gurbaj Singh) bt Thailand 0; HT 10-0. P layer of the Match: Raghunath.

Table of points: Pool ‘A’: Malaysia, Played 4, won 3, drawn 1, lost nil, goals for 26, goals against 4, Points 10; Japan 4-3-0-1-18-4-9; Pakistan 4-2-1-1-18-7-7; Hong Kong 4-1-0-3-6-28-3; Singapore 4-0-0-4-2-27-0.

Pool ‘B’: India 5-5-0-0-46-2-15; Korea 5-3-1-1-41-8-10; China 5-3-1-1-32-6-10; Bangladesh 5-2-0-3-16-22-6; Sri Lanka 5-1-0-4-15-46-3; Thailand 5-0-0-0-5-1-67-0.

Friday is a rest day.

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