The Hindu : Sport : Jharkhand in semifinals

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 04, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Sport

Sport

Jharkhand in semifinals

Principal Correspondent

Haryana defeated Orissa 7-2 to top Pool D
Jharkhand will take on Haryana on Friday

JALANDHAR: A disciplined Jharkhand bade for its time before shutting out Punjab 3-2 to make it to the semifinals of the 55th Rakshak women’s National hockey championship at the Surjit Memorial stadium here on Sunday. In the semifinals on Friday, Jharkhand will take on Haryana, which routed Orissa 7-2 to top Pool D earlier in the day.

In what could be described as the best match so far in this championship, host Punjab lost its nerve and tempers flared up towards the end when Jharkhand took the winning lead in the 58th minute.

Coming into the last Pool B league match, both Punjab and Jharkhand had two wins apiece. The host, however needed just a draw to move ahead, but the fast-moving Jharkhand proved difficult to contain. Jharkhand took the lead in the 25th minute when international Adeline Kerketta fired the first salvo. Punjab shot back seven minutes later through its skipper Manjinder Kaur, who converted the first penalty corner her team earned.

Deepika strikes

Deepika, the leading goal-scorer of the championship so far, then put Punjab up in the 47th, converting the second penalty corner. On the counterattack though, Jharkhand equalised two minutes later through Sarita Lakra, who complimented the efforts of the forwards Amirta Ming and Lorencia Kerketta.

Jharkhand showed better tackling and ball control, while Punjab relied on long passes that seldom were collected cleanly. In the 58th, Lorencia and Amrita moved in tandem from the centre before Gurjeet Kaur foiled the move. But in her haste to clear the ball away, Gurjeet shot wildly forcing the umpire to award a free hit just outside the circle.

Amrita slapped the ball in, which then deflected of a defender’s stick into the goalpost. Punjab protested claiming that the ball was carried, but after a brief consultation the umpires stuck to the decision.

The game stopped for a while as the Punjab players walked towards the technical bench in vain. On resumption, Punjab showed eagerness in finding that elusive equaliser but its efforts were in vain as the Jharkhand defence stood firm.

Mamta stars

Earlier in the day, Mamta Kharab steered Haryana to an impressive 7-2 win over Orissa. Mamta struck thrice while the seasoned Pritam Rani Siwach scored a brace as Haryana drew inspiration from its Saturday’s win over Gwalior. At one point, Haryana led 5-0 before Sarita Barla reduced the margin, but Orissa could do little else.

In a Pool B match, Uttar Pradesh beat Chhattisgarh 4-0 with Rijuta Mullick scoring twice.

The results: Pool B: Jharkhand 3 (Adeline Kerketta 25th; Sarita Lakra 49th; Amrita Ming 58th) bt Punjab 2 (Manjinder Kaur 32; Deepika 47th). Uttar Pradesh 4 (Rijuta Mullick 15th, 26th; Manjari Pandey 50th; Sumitra Tirkey 54th) bt Chhattisgarh 0.

Pool D: Haryana 7 (Mamta Kharab 4th, 45th, 53rd; Pritam Rani Siwach 16th, 69th; Harmanjeet Kaur 42nd; Monika Dahiya 61st) bt Orissa 2 (Sarita Barla 56th, 66th).

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport