Different strokes

Uthra G Chaturvedi

There couldn’t have been more contrasting games than the two semi-finals at the senior men’s hockey national championships played on Saturday. While the first one between Punjab and Karnataka was expected to be a close match, Haryana were supposed to have the upper hand against a young and inexperienced Jharkhand.
Instead, the first was a one way affair, the scoreline not really doing justice as Karnataka going through 2-1. The second match saw only penalties separate the teams — Haryana beat Jharkhand 8-7 after the teams were locked 1-1 at the end of extra time.

Unlike their match against Air India in the quarters, Karnataka were far more attacking on the day, and appeared keen to control both the ball and the pace of the game. Though Punjab got the first shot at goal when Dharamvir Singh earned a penalty corner in the 5th minute — which Bharat Chhetri saved — they were hardly in the game for a major part. Karnataka went one up three minutes later through Raghunath’s penalty corner.

“This was the first tough match for the team and yes I admit that they perhaps failed to up the tempo,” admitted Punjab coach Baljit Singh Saini. “It’s a young side and I wanted them to avoid complacency. But hard luck,” he added.

Thereafter, it was mostly about Punjab trying to contain and Karnataka pressing the attack. But with hardly any experienced players in their attack, Punjab were always at a disadvantage. Punjab leveled immediately on resumption as Dharamvir finally deflected the ball in past a fallen Chhetri. It somewhat made up for the missed chance at the stroke of half time when they had earned a penalty corner but could not stop properly.

But there was no denying that Karnataka always had the upper hand. A Hari Prasad deflection in the 45th minute put them up again and despite Punjab making feeble attempt to score, Karnataka made it to their first-ever final in the national championships.

Jharkhand miss opportunity

Meanwhile, Jharkhand despite impressing in parts had only themselves to blame for their defeat to Haryana. Despite Sandeep Singh in their ranks, Haryana didn’t manage a single penalty corner in the match. In spite of Sardar Singh and Sher Singh’s efforts in the middle, they could hardly come close to scoring. But the one chance they got, they scored through Karamjit Singh.

Jharkhand, on the other hand, were not only the more dominant side, they were the more impressive one. Their defence was impeccable, letting no loose balls inside the D; their midfield was well-coordinated, with accurate passing and receiving and hardly a ball going waste.

Where they paid the price was in the inexperience of their attack. The Jharkhand forwards Banmali Xess, Bikash Toppo, Roshan Minz and Ajitesh Roy muffed up at least four clear chances to score in each half. They also earned seven penalty corners but could score off none. But if the way they played, it would be an interesting clash against Punjab for the third position.