Bangalore Nationals: QUARTERFINAL ROUND UP (SUNDAY MATCHES)

QF 1: Punjab defeat Railways,/B>

Bangalore, Sept 30: Punjab muscled past Railway Sports Control Board 5-1 here on Sunday to set up a mouth-watering semi-final clash with defending champions Haryana in Hockey India’s second senior men’s National hockey championship.

Haryana had earlier beaten a young Manipur 4-2 in the first quarter-final and later, hosts Karnataka had the measure of arch-rivals Tamil Nadu 2-0 to also enter the penultimate round of the championship.

Karnataka await the winners of the fourth quarter-final match between Air India and Jharkhand to be played later tonight.

Punjab, who led 3-1 at half-time after conceding an early goal, were stretched to the limit by Railways who however, did not defend as well as they attacked to allow their rivals to gain the upper hand.

Punjab’s penalty corner specialist Gurjinder Singh again led the scorers’ list with two conversions after Gurbaj Singh opened the account in the seventh minute, finding the boards from a goalmouth scramble.

Young Akashdeep Singh and Prabhdeep Singh scored the other Punjab goals while for Railways, B Horo struck in the fifth minute, but then failed to consolidate on the early advantage.

In fact, Punjab were rocked when Horo deflected an accurate centre from Vinod Kumar who gained possession following an abortive penalty corner.

However, Railways were unable to build on the early break as they committed far too many errors in their defence to allow Punjab to gain the upper hand.

Sure enough, the Punjab equalizer came not a moment soon when Gurbaj diverted the ball to the boards following a right-wing move that resulted in a hectic goalmouth scramble and then Gurjinder converted a 12th minute penalty corner that put Railways under pressure.

Punjab stepped up the pace and in the 31st minute, Akashdeep found the target with a reverse hit after being put through by Satbir Singh to give his side a 3-1 advatnage at half-time.

On change of ends, Punjab scored twice more with Gurjinder converting a penalty corner and Prabhdeep lending finishing touches to a flowing move.

Railways coach Balwinder Singh, a former India forward, said: “Obviously, a disappointing result, but we had as many scoring chances as Punjab. The difference was they converted and we didn’t. Overall, I am satisfied with my team’s performance.”

Punjab coach Baljit Singh Saini, also a former India player, said the early goal that Railways score was a wake-up call and that once Punjab found a way through the rival defence, the goals came.

“I am glad Railways scored early and it was a wake-up call for us. But as in our previous game against the Services (in pool match), we had to deal with a very defensive opponents. However, after we scored a couple of goals, it opened the floodgates,” Saini said.

Looking ahead to Monday’s semi-final clash with Haryana, Saini said: “It will be a tough match. We know their game too well and they also know us. So, form on the day will make the difference.”

The results (quarter-finals):

Punjab 5 (Gurjinder Singh 12th, 47th; Gurbaj Singh 7th; Akashdeep Singh 31st; Prabhdeep Singh 52nd) beat Railway Sports Control Board 1 (B Horo 5th).

Haryana 4 (Bharat Chhikara 3rd, 6th; Mandeep Antil 43rd; Didar Singh 44th) beat Manipur 2 (Jayantakumar Meitel 31st, 60th).

Karnataka 2 (MK Mudappa 29th; PL Thimanna 32nd) beat Tamil Nadu 0.

Bangalore Nationals: HARYANA defeat MANIPUR

Bangalore, Sept 30: Scoring twice in each half, defending champions Haryana defeated Manipur 4-2 to become the first team to enter the semi-finals of Hockey India’s senior men’s National hockey championship here today.

Spearheading the Haryana charge was former India forward Bharat Chhikara who opened the scoring with goals in the third and sixth minutes while Mandeep Antil (43rd) and Didar Singh (44th) netted one apiece from penalty corners.

Manipur, playing in their maiden quarter-final game at this level, went down fighting with penalty corner goals by Jayantakumar Meitel (31st, 60th) keeping them in the frame, but Haryana held their ground in the last 10 minutes.

Haryana, though having more of the exchanges, did not sustain the initial intensity that had fetched them two goals by the sixth minute as they threatened to rain goals on the young Manipuri team.

Chhikara showed a great sense of opportunism to finish two good moves that underlined Haryana’s superiority that though was not as apparent on a consistent basis thereafter.

In fact, even as Haryana slackened the pace after the early lead, Manipur came back into the match and Meitel’s conversion just before the breather, kept their hopes alive.

Haryana yet again set early pace when the game re-started and penalty corner conversions by Antil and Didar gave them a healthy 4-2 advantage, but never quite looked enough as Manipur still had a lot of fight in them.

Manipur missed a couple of scoring opportunities in the last quarter before Joychandra converted a penalty corner to narrow the deficit, but the experienced Haryana held on to the two-goal lead until the final hooter.

“I am quite satisfied with our performance. It was a good exposure for the boys playing in their first quarter-final at the National level,” said 1986 World Cupper Tiken Singh, the coach of Manipur team, after the match.

“We were slow to start today, but we were in the game until Haryana scored two quick goals in the second-half. In fact, their third goal, which could have been disallowed for raised ball, was the turning point.

“We have to improve on our fitness and also understanding among the players. In fact, the full team assembled here in Bangalore just before our first match.

“Since most of our players play for different units and organizations, it is tough to get them together for a long preparatory camp, but the National championship has provided our boys good exposure and experience, and we hope to improve,” added Tiken Singh.

The result (quarter-final):

Haryana 4 (Bharat Chhikara 3rd, 6th; Mandeep Antil 43rd; Didar Singh 44th) beat Manipur 2 (Jayantakumar Meitel 31st, 60th).

Bangalore Nationals: Karnataka defeat Tamil Nadu 2-0

Bangalore, Sept 30: Hosts Karnataka, scoring twice in the first-half through MK Mudappa and PL Thimmanna, edged out Tamil Nadu 2-0 and entered the semi-final of Hockey India’s second senior men’s National hockey championship, here on Sunday.

The quarter-final game was well-fought and Tamil Nadu had their chances, but it was Karnataka who came good with two opportunistic goals late in the first-half to make progress.

Karnataka joined defending champions Haryana who earlier in the day defeated Manipur 4-2 in the first quarter-final match.

Mudappa was in the right place at the right time to deflect home a cross from Pundalik Bellary with the ball eluding the gloves of Olympian goalkeeper Sreejesh. Mudappa quickly scrambled home to set off celebrations in the 29th minute.

Three minutes later, Thimmanna got a touch to a long hit from the centre-line by skipper Vikram Kanth for the second Karnataka goal with Sreejesh unable to react to the threat.

In the second-half, both teams took turns to dominate but the rival goalkeepers Sreejesh and Tarun Thammanna brought off good saves that pegged the score-line.

Neither team was able to convert a couple of penalty corners with the set-piece play not sharp enough to produce goals.

A disappointed Tamil Nadu coach Mohd Riaz Nabi attributed the defeat to the collective inexperience of his team.

“Considering the strength and composition of Karnataka team that had about seven to eight international players, besides country’s top drag-flick expert (VR Raghunath), I am quite satisfied with the performance of my team.

“We had barely two to three days of training before coming to Bangalore. Majority of the boys are very young and inexperienced, but we had a few chances, especially the penalty corners, but couldn’t stop the ball because of bad bounce,” said Riaz, a former India player and one of the finest centre-half the country has produced in recent times.

The results (quarter-finals):

Karnataka 2 (MK Mudappa 29th; PL Thimanna 32nd) beat Tamil Nadu 0.