Often, our sweetest songs are those that narrate the saddest tales.
Karnataka goalkeeper Bharat Chetri would agree for certain. For, he poured his heart out, defended tenaciously and displayed quick-silver reflexes. But he ended up conceding six goals.
However, that hardly dims Indian Oil Corporation’s performance, as they drubbed Karnataka 6-3 in the All-India Murugappa Gold Cup Hockey Tournament here on Sunday.
Blending artistry with aggression, IOC started with a bang storming the opposition ‘D’ with synergy and synthesis.
If Rajpal Singh was ingenious, skipper Deepak Thakur was speedy. Inside 15 minutes, before Karnataka couldn’t even adapt to their breakneck pace and entrancing stick work, IOC romped to a 3-0 lead.
Penalty corners beckoned in plenty for IOC, but blame not VR Raghunath or set-pieces for dismal conversion because Chetri was brilliant.
After several promising forays, signalling a semblance of fightback, Mudappa opened Karnataka’s account in the 23rd minute.
The scenario got slightly tighter when Karnataka’s Sommana scored in the 38th minute.
But Thakur struck immediately (39th minute) to avert a potential riposte.
However, just when the match seemed dead, Mudappa breathed life into it and got a penalty stroke, thanks to IOC goalkeeper Baljit Singh’s clumsy challenge. Jeethan belted home the penalty stroke in the 57th minute to make it 3-4.
A minute later, Thakur notched his third goal to literally shut the game. Prabhjot Singh hit the last nail in Karnataka’s coffin with a screeching backhander in the 63rd minute.
In a similarly fast-paced match, Indian Railway edged Mumbai 3-2. Innocent Kullu’s 53rdminute flick sealed the match, which had its share of skirmishes and frayed tempers.
Though Railway were the better side, they spilled a penalty stroke before conceding two goals—both via free-hit deflections.
Results: Army XI 5 (Sunil 8, Ignace 17, 51, Jerum Kumar 38, 40) bt Namdhari 2 (Karamjeet Singh 51, Dilbag Singh 57), Indian Railways 3 (Chandla Kesu 6, Bharath 43, Innocent Kullu 53) bt Mumbai XI 2 (Ajay Kumar 14, Yuvraj Valmiki 17), IOC 6 (Deepak Thakur 6, 39, 58, Didar Singh 13, VR Raghunath 14, Prabhjot Singh 63) bt Karnataka 3 (Mudappa 23, Sommana 38, Jeethan 57).