Hyderabad, uly 16: Powered by a Diwakar Ram brace, India outplayed Pakistan 3-1 in the semifinal of the Junior Asia Cup hockey tournament at the Gachibowli Stadium here on Wednesday.
Playing before packed stands, India had huge support in a game that saw both teams involved in a scuffle in the first half.
Pakistan mounted severe pressure on the Indian goal in the first fifteen minutes. Led by captain Shafqat Rasool and Inayat Ullah, the visitors raided the Indian D, creating a couple of opportunities within the first five minutes that resulted in a penalty corner. Kashif Ali’s shot, however, was blocked by Indian custodian P. Sreejesh.
India regrouped well to hit back hard. Receiving a pass from the centre, Vivek ran into the rival D and passed for S.V. Sunil, who failed to beat the defenceless goalkeeper Imran Butt.
The hosts opened their account in the 16th minute. Roshan Minz, Sunil and Pramod led the attack from the midfield to set up the goal. Gurvinder Singh Chandi — placed at the right flank — picked up the final pass from Pramod to put India ahead.
Stung by the reverse, Pakistan mounted a fightback and a display of individual brilliance from Inayat Ullah brought out the best in the Indian defence.
Just four minutes from the end of the first half a scuffle erupted when Muhammed Irfan roughly tackled Mandeep Antil who was looking dangerous.
A heated argument ensued between Gurbaj Singh and Irfan. Blows were exchanged as players started to jostle each other.
Referees Grochal Marcin and Al-Wahabi Thani Saheem and other team officials rushed to pacify the players. Irfan was sent out after being shown a yellow card. In all, the game was held up for five minutes and coach Bansal called his boys together to give a piece of his mind for not showing restraint.
The combined attack by Chandi, Sunil, Roshan ably supported by Vivek and Mandeep played with purpose now and India gradually took control of the midfield.
This brought them a second penalty corner and Diwakar did not disappoint with a powerful flick for a 2-0 lead.
Pakistan showed signs of comeback when they converted a penalty corner through Kashif in the 42nd minute. India however, put the issue beyond doubt with Diwakar’s second goal.
Bansal later said, “The first goal was the turning point. Pakistan started to slow down. Then the forwards did a brilliant job. I had told Chandi and others that if you retackle and counter attack, we will gain. And they just did that.”
About Diwakar who sealed the victory, Bansal said, “He is our saviour. He has always done well at crucial moments.”
On the overall performance Bansal said, “They played like a team and they won. This is the greatest outcome from this match.”
Bansal said the scuffle was unfortunate and he had told his players that he would not tolerate such behaviour.