Mumbai: The final lived up to expectations. There were, of course, those glitches — umpiring errors the most glaring of them all — but overall it was a worthy title clash between two of the best hockey sides in the country. In the end, Air India won 5-4, but Indian Oil definitely were the better side on the day.
Even before the 500 odd spectators, a ‘record’ crowd considering the current state of the game, could settle down in their seats, Indian Oil had sped to a 3-0 lead. The game was just 11 minutes old by then. The first two goals came off penalty corners, V Raghunath’s fourth and eighth minute drag flicks just too powerful for Air India custodian Adrian D’Souza.
Next came the goal of the match, and perhaps, of the tournament even. Bharat Chikara took off from the midfield, and scored, singlehandedly, despite nearly half of the Air India players falling back to defend. Chikara, who looked like scoring each time he entered the opposition flank, was also instrumental in setting up the fourth goal for his side, but more about that later. Sad, he’s not even among the 48 probables announced by the IOA’s ad hoc committee manning Indian hockey recently.
The triple strike was too rude a jolt for Air India. They got their first chance in the 16th minute, with Shivendra Singh scoring off a goalmouth melee. Three minutes later, they forced their first penalty corner, and Sandeep Singh made no mistake for the first of his four goals. But just before the half-time hooter, the Oilmen scored again, Hamza Mujtaba ensuring that Chikara’s hard work didn’t go waste. Indian Oil went for the lemon break leading 4-2.
But post-break, AI returned a rejuvenated side. And with the umpiring errors mostly going in their favour, they forced as many as six penalty corners, with Sandeep scooping it right once, besides converting a penalty stroke. Till the 68th minute, it was 4-4, and looked like anybody’s game. Then came Air India’s seventh penalty corner, and Sandeep was bang on this time for what was his fourth goal, and eight overall of the tournament.
Indian Oil coach Devesh Chauhan didn’t even come for the presentation ceremony. “The umpires spoiled such a good match. They can’t even be called ‘B’ grade, they are much below that. Why can’t they have competent officials for the final? These guys are just about fit for local leagues. They made us lose a match that we had won. They are not even aware of the basics,” he fumed.