M.No.21

DAY 11: Saturday 10.3.2012:

Lions beat Cheetahs in the battle of the jungles

In a major upset, Karnataka Lions trounced favourites Chennai Cheetahs 5-3 in their crucial match in the inaugural Bridgestone World Series Hockey here on Saturday. Skipper Ravi Pal assumed a dual role of playmaker and striker to resurrect the fortune of the otherwise struggling Lions.

Ravi Pal struck the first goal and consolidated his team by scoring the fourth one in addition to setting up colt Vinayak Bijwad for a brace in between. Team-mate Deepak Kumar added one more, three minutes before the hooter, to bring the Lions back into the limelight.

The star from traditional hockey bastion, Sansarpur in Punjab, Ravi Pal, exhibited artistic and athletic hockey. The talented youngster was able to showcase his talent to a wider audience on Saturday, thanks to the Bridgestone WSH. His fourth goal was easily the best effort in the match as Ravi Pal struck a solo goal, beating three Cheetahs defenders to score from the right.

On the other hand, the Cheetahs worked on penalty corners, hoping to ride on Pakistani drag-flicker Syed Imran Warsi’s prowess, but the strategy misfired. The hosts were able to convert only three out of nine PC awarded and the goals came probably too late in the match.

The first goal from the Lions was a result of team work. Vinayak Bijwad supplied the ball to Ravi Pal on the D, who charged into the circle and unleashed a strong forehand shot from right that smashed the back net to the utter shock of the home crowd in the 26th minute. Six minutes later, the same duo mesmerized Chennai defence once more. Three defenders attempted in vain to stop Ravi Pal on the right baseline only to see the wily forward sneak a gentle cross which Jasbir Singh spotted, but Vinayak spotted the ball ticking and put the stick on it on the run to douse whatever fire the Chennai had till then.

Earlier, Chennai was definitely unlucky to see the umpire not endorse an Imran Warsi conversion, due to an inexplicable obstruction of charger by stopper Vikram Pillay. The Cheetahs’ strategy to depend mainly on penalty-corners to win matches was evident to all, and they spent all their energy in creating PCs. It was probably unfair to expect Warsi, who is leading the race for the ‘Golden Stick’, to fire all the time for them.

Soon after Vikas Sharma made a goaline save, Vinayak deflected a forehand from his captain from right side of the circle to bring up the third goal. Then Ravi Pal scored the best solo of the tournament when he beat on speed three defenders to score from right (4-2) and then set up Deepak added one more to make it 5-2 for the Lions. Warsi’s goal from a penalty-corner after hooter proved was just a formality for the record-book.

M.No.22

DAY 11: Saturday 10.3.2012:

Sher-E-Punjab pip Bhopal Badshahs 3-2 in a thriller

In a match that witnessed many highs, skills and dogged fightbacks, the clash between Sher-E-Punjab and Bhopal Badshahs went right up to the wires, with the visitors winning 3-2 here on Saturday.

Star forward Deepak Thakur chose the right moment to steal the limelight in the inaugural Bridgestone World Series Hockey as he struck two goals in this crucial tie against the Badshahs. Thakur struck the first two goals in the 17th and 46th minutes and team-mate Harpreet Singh posted the third goal as the Shers returned to the top position in the points table after losing their previous two matches.

The man-in-form for the Badhshahs, Sameer Dad, struck the equaliser in the 22nd minute and young sensation Lali Upadhyaya scored the second goal in the 58rd minute. The inspiring Dad came close to equalize three minutes before the hooter in a penalty corner drill, but his short deflection agonizingly hit the post and spun beyond the baseline.

In an evenly contested match, where emotions flew thick, and most of the umpiring decisions were hotly contested, the fate of the match hung on a slender thread till the last seconds. The Punjab team must have heaved a sigh of relief when the match ended.

The Shers led the onslaught throughout the match, attacking through their brilliant trio of Prabhjot Singh, Inderjeet Singh and Deepak Thakur, who troubled the Badshahs relentlessly. Badshahs’ goalkeeper Baljit Singh, defenders Ajay Saroha and Girish Pimple brought out their best to keep their bastion intact initially; Girish in particular twice picked up the ball on the goalline.

Though Olympian Harpal Singh failed to capitalize most of the penalty corners that came the Shers way, his Namdhari colleague and junior international Harpreet made amends with a ground flick.

Shortly after Vinaya failed to trap a cross inside the circle, he set up Thakur for the Shers’ first goal. With an eagle eye, Thakur bounced on to a weak clearance off Vinaya’s shot that put the Shers ahead in the 17th minute.

Skipper Dad lost no time set the Aisbagh Stadium on fire with his never-say-die attitude. His thrust upfront infused life into the defensive Badshahs. He first wrong-footed Harpal Singh before executing his quick forehand, the ball crashing on the top inside roof for the equaliser.

Both teams played out the second and third quarter without giving in to each other. There were fireworks but the scoreboard would not budge.

The credit went to the Shers forwards, Prabhjot and Thakur. The latter deflected a strong forehand of Prabhjot to go up and then Bhopal fought hard without making much on the net. The young Karan Baskaran failed today with the penalty corners and it affected their goals tally in this crucial tie.