Match No. 47

Day 24: Monday 26.3.2012:

Comets stay on course with a sparkling win

Chandigarh Comets are turning out to be the team-to-watch-out for most as the Bridgestone World Series Hockey approaches the final lap.

In a crucial match for both the teams here at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium on Monday, the Comets made it look easy as they blanked strong contenders Chennai Cheetahs 3-0. The key contest was billed by some as a clash between two of the best penalty-corner exponents in the league – Cheetahs’ Imran Warsi and the young Comets Gurjinder Singh but to everybody’s susprise it was the lion-hearted Sher Singh who dazzled with his deadly charges and lethal blows for the visitors.

The Comets frittered away their quota of penalty corners except once but they had more control in the match. Interestingly, both teams seemed to have anticipated the dreadful drag-flicks and had perfected the art of penalty corner defence, which made a huge difference in the end.

Sher Singh’s imaginative and daredevil charges did not allow any chance for Imran Warsi to dent their citadel in four of the five penalty corner attempts in the first quarter, while the first one hit the right top vertical. The team that used to rely on Warsi’s firepower lost the plot there itself, and were without any counter-strategy to undo the damage. Coach Jose Brasa did try to use indirect means to convert penalty corners after Warsi failed to make an impact. On one occasion, Warsi played the dummy and Vikas took the shot, but the surprise element didn’t work as goalkeeper Harjot Singh fell flat to block his grounder. Brent Livermore and Vikram Pillay tried a new combination from the other side of the circle, but Harjot was again hard to be fooled.

Earlier, Amir Khan provided the finishing touch to a Gurjinder Singh pass and then on his own added one to give early jitters to the hosts. The shell-shocked Cheetahs appeared flustered at that stage and did not recover from the early setback. Minutes later, Gurjinder had a direct hand in enhancing the lead with a deadly grounder off the first penalty corner. He got seven more chances later, but Vikas Sharma’s charges and goalkeeper Santosh Kumar’s late coming of form came in his way. Then, Sukhwinder ‘Gabbar’ Singh converted a stroke in the second session after a penalty corner rebound hit a defender, to add to the woes of the jaded Chennai outfit.

The visitors could have added a couple of more goals had their captain Rehan Butt latched on to some brilliant moves and lent his finishing touch. The former Pakistani captain was culpable of missing at least three sitters.

Match No. 47

Day 24: Monday 26.3.2012:

Wizards spin magic around Strykers

Maybe, some time in the future, a tournament will be conducted from the backend to the frontend. The theory will probably find many takers after watching Karanataka Lions’ terrific fightback from the brinks, and now Delhi Wizards. The Wizards seems to have saved their best performance for the final leg of the inaugural World Series Hockey as they mercilessly thrashed semifinal contenders, Pune Strykers 6-2 here on Monday.

An avid hockey fan had waited so long to witness players of the calibre of Rajpal Singh, Pakistani import Shakeel Abassi and talented youngsters like Vikramjeet Singh, Upendra Pillay and Victo Singh, to showcase their wares finally.

Displaying dazzling hockey, inspired by captain Abbasi’s individual brilliance, a completely transformed Wizards kept their semifinal chances alive with a sterling performance in do-or-die battle against Strykers. With 16 points, the Wizards are now placed sixth in the points table ahead of Strykers and Mumbai Marines.

The Wizards achieved their mission today with clinical precision through their frontline trio of Abbasi, Philip Sunkel and Victo Singh, who were firing all cylinders. On the other jand, defender Bikramjeet Singh, charger Jaswinder Singh and goalkeeper Kamaldeep Singh ensured the safety of their net. Like drag-flicker Imran Warsi in the other match of the day, Strykers’ PC expert Gurpreet Singh had an off day today, failing to strike in seven penalty corners, which proved to be the hosts’ undoing in this crucial tie.

Ironically, the Strykers were first off the blocks in the match. Mario Almada tapped in a slow feed to stun the Wizards in the very second minute but his team couldn’t hold on to the initial enthusiasm. The early setback seemed to have brought out the best from the Wizards as they managed to find the target from the most difficult angles and unimaginable moves. The gangling youngster Upendra Pillay launched the blitzkrieg in the final minutes of the first quarter. Pillay fell in his effort to trap a parallel pass from Victo Singh but retrieved it quickly to put the stick in the right angle and deflect the ball home, much to the frustration of goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh.

Then, German import Philip Sunkel showed his class to infuse life into the Wizards rank. He took a strong forehand from the right of circle, which Shakeel Abbasi, playing his best hockey in the league so far, dived to see it home and excitedly threw his hands up in celebration. Bikramjeet Singh tested the roof of the net twice in the 28th and 41st minutes. In between, Victo Singh entered his name on the scoreboard and returned to strike another with seven minutes left for the hooter. Vikas Pillay converted a penalty strike to increase the Strykers tally, but the hosts had clearly failed to counter the numbers game this time.