Karnataka enters semifinals

Drag-flicker V.R. Raghunath’s golden goal took Karnataka past Air India 2-1 and into the semifinals of the senior National hockey championship here on Thursday.

Vikram Pillay converted a penalty stroke in the 31st minute to give Air India the lead in front of a sparse but enthusiastic crowd at the Aisbagh Stadium.

Karnataka, riding on Raghunath’s brilliance, levelled in the 61st minute.

He scored from a penalty corner. He struck again in the extra time — in the 75th minute — to take his tally in the tournament to nine goals, all from penalty-corner conversions.

JHARKHAND IN LAST FOUR

Jharkhand too stormed into the semifinals beating Railways 2-1.

Ajithesh Roy converted a penalty corner in the first half and Railways levelled through Sanjay Bir in the second. Jharkhand’s Bikesh Toppo then scored the winner with a fantastic acrobatic reverse flick.

Karnataka goalkeeper Bharat Chetri also played an important part bringing off a series of good saves.

Karnataka players could not get their basics like trapping right.

Their poor work robbed Raghunath of scoring opportunities as they failed to trap properly from penalty corners. They had six in all.

If Karnataka was lacklustre, Air India too looked rusty.

The match billed as a big clash fell short of expectations.

In the last quarterfinal match, Haryana defeated Orissa 3-2 through a golden goal. Sandeep Singh scored twice (including the golden goal) and Gurmail Singh scored once for Haryana. Ankit and Stanley scored a goal each for Orissa.

The results:

Quarterfinals: Karnataka 2 (V.R. Raghunath 2) bt Air India 1 (Vikram Pillay); Jharkhand 2 (Ajithesh Roy, Bikesh Toppo) bt Railways 1 (Sanjay Bir); Haryana 3 (Sandeep Singh 2, Gurmail Singh) bt Orissa 2 (Ankit, Stanley).