Air India beat Army XI, enter semis
Kusum Arora
Star-studded Air India, Mumbai entered the semi-finals after beating rivals Army XI, Delhi 3-2 on the fifth day of the ongoing 27th Indian Oil Servo Surjit Hockey tournament being held here. Indian Oil, Mumbai had registered its entry in the semi-finals yesterday. Air India men displayed good hockey and picked the game right from word go.
In an interesting match the Air India team opened its account in the 2nd minute of the game when skipper Sameer Dad posted a field goal (1-0).Army XI men consolidated their lead in the 6th minute of the play when Wilson Lakra sounded the board from a cracking hit (1-1). Air India team mounted pressure on the Army men and scored another field goal in the 29th minute through the stick of Lalit Upadhayay 2-1. Till half time the winners were leading 2-1.
In the second half of the game Army men got a chance to score a goal through penalty corner in the 31st minute of the game, but failed to capitalize.
Eight minutes later Air India scored another beautiful field goal through the stick of V.S.Vinay (3-1). For Army team, Rajesh Lakra scored a field goal in the 43rd minute of the game taking the score to 3-2. The Army men bagged a penalty corner in the 64th minute of the play but lost the chance once again.
In another one-sided match, Punjab and Sind Bank, Delhi defeated Javed Hockey Club (Gojra), Pakistan.