The Hindu : Sport / Hockey : IOB retains trophy

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Monday, Mar 10, 2008
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IOB retains trophy

Hockey Correspondent

— Photo: M. Vedhan

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: The IOB team which won the MIOT-CHA senior division super league championship.

CHENNAI: Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) retained the Rajaram Memorial Trophy with a convincing 3-0 victory over Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in the deciding match of the MIOT-CHA senior division super league hockey championship at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium on Sunday. IOB finished with 13 points against the 12 by ICF.

It was a heartening performance by the reigning champion in a must-win situation. The trophy was almost won by the end of the first session, during which IOB was leading by three goals to nil.

IOB was predictably the dominant side simply because it had to win; on the contrary, a draw was sufficient for ICF to regain the cup. ICF’s approach was deliberately defensive, which only helped IOB’s cause.

A fierce drive by Senthil Kumar, following a penalty corner, gave IOB the lead. Not long after came a scorching penalty corner by Muthuselvan. Before half-time came the third, conceived and executed with a touch of flourish. A long clearance from Muthuselvan was trapped neatly by M. Senthil near the 25-yard line. A crisp cross by the latter culminated in M. Saravanakumar slotting in.

Helpless at that point to stem the tide, the best ICF could do was to change the goalkeeper replacing Alex David with Udayakumar.

Throughout the second half, ICF couldn’t reduce the margin despite the hard work by Rajendran and Sarath Babu.

Ms. Yamuna Arun, Dy. Commissioner of Customs, Chennai Port, gave away the trophy and cash awards (Rs. 25,000 for IOB and Rs. 15,000 for ICF). Mr. Panchapakesan, President, CHA, presided and V. Baskaran, Secretary, welcomed the gathering.

Veterans V. Prabhakaran (ICF) and Joshua (Central Excise) were felicitated for their contribution to hockey.

Special prizes were awarded to Arun Gandhi (IOB-goalkeeper), S. Raja (SAI-full back), Yuvaraj (SAI-half-back), Vinod Rayar (SAI-forward) and Laxman Karan (S. Railway-most promising player).

The final positions: IOB, played 5, won 4, drew 1, lost nil, points 13; ICF 5-4-0-1-12; Southern Railway 5-3-1-1-10; Indian Bank 5-2-0-3-6; SAI ‘A’ 5-1-0-4-3; SAI ‘B’ 5-0-0-5-0.

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