Air India blank CRPF to stay in contention
IT WAS a goal feast in the 19th Lal Bahadur Shastrihockey tournament on Sunday. A total of 12 goals were scored in the two matches at the Nehru Stadium with Air India and Bharat Petroleum registering emphatic victories.
Air India kept their semifinal hopes alive after they beat CRPF 5-0. They would now be hoping that Indian Oil beat Punjab National Bank on Monday .
Inspired by a fluent Dhanraj Pillay, Air India dominated from the start and opened the scoring as early as in the 10th minute. Pillay dissected through the CRPF defence to provide a sublime pass to A.B. Cheeyana, who tapped the ball into an open net.
Air India doubled their lead in the 15th minute with Pillay adding his name on the score sheet. CRPF were under immense pressure and it showed as they failed to keep possession.
Capitalising on the errors, Sandeep Singh got into the act as he slotted home Air India’s third goal in the 31st minute from their third penalty corner.
The change of ends brought no change in CRPF’s fortunes as Air India struck again in the 46th minute when Lalit Vpadhaya deflected the ball in off a long shot. Sandeep scored his second of the match in the 60th minute from the fifth penalty corner.
Earlier in the day, defending champions Namdari XI suffered another embarrassing defeat, losing 5-2 to Bharat Petroleum, who are already in the semifinals.