M.No 43

Day 22: Saturday 24.3.2012:

Red-alert as Lions on the rampage

* Karnataka Lions win third match on the trot as they beat Delhi Wizards 3-1

* Ravi Pal Singh (8th min), Jarnail Singh (36th min) Len Aiyappa (66th min)

score for the Lions

* Rajpal Singh reduces the margin for Wizards in the 51st min

Bengaluru, March 24, 2012: In one of the most remarkable turnaround that the

inaugural Bridegstone World Series Hockey has witnessed, Karnataka Lions appears

to have woken up from their slumber late but completely. The Lions, more

popularly known as the team that features the ‘face of Indian hockey’, the

41-year-old Dhanraj Pillay, notched their third consecutive win to fashion

arguably the most dramatic comeback in this tournament – adding a convinicng 3-1

win over Delhi Wizards here at the KHSA Stadium on Saturday after their shocking

win over leaders Sher-E-Punjab the previous day.

With three amazing back-to-back wins, Lions are now comfortably perched at third

in the pool table.

Despite playing with a player less in the last 20 minutes, the cohesive and

coherent Lions combined briliantly to take a 2-0 lead within the first 20

minutes and thereafter with a dogged defence kept the marauding forwards of

Wizards at bay. After gifting a goal midway through, Len Aiyappa ensured safe

victory passage with a late penalty corner conversion.

Despite the smooth sailing Lions lost their cool in the final phase of the

match, which almost threatened them with defeat, but the reliable Aiyappa saved

the day for the home team, making use of their seventh and last short corer.

The Lions were cruising for a well-deserved victory with 2-0 lead till the

third quarter. However, their momentary lapse of concentration allowed the

profligate the Wizards to come and taunt them with a goal. The Lions indulged in

needless rough tackles and reckless body play in the last phase, and had two

players sent off simultaneously.

Both scorers of the Lions, Jarnail Singh and Ravi Pal Singh, for a change, paved

the way for the Wizards’ long due comeback. Delhi’s chances came alive after the

stern and strict Mark Knulle showed no mercy on Jarnail Singh, who received the

WSH’s first red card. In the same minute, the usually composed Ravi Pal Singh

needlessly shouldered Vikram Kant in the midfield, leading to a green card

suspension.

The Wizards struck when the iron was hot. They lost no time in grabbing the

two-men advantage. The sharp and accurate Rajpal Singh sprinted fast with a ball

on one hand to the circle from the left flank, passed the ball from the right

baseline, and saw to his satisfaction to be deflected into the cage by Lions’

Vinayak Bijwad, a self-goal.

Zeeshan Ashraff, Aiyappa and the lion-hearted Nitin Kumar stood in tandem to

ward off innumerable attacks the Wizards launched when they had superior numbers

on the field. Devesh Chauhan, the ‘Wall’, was undaunted and came out with

another sterling show to deny the likes of Shakeel Abassi, Upendra Pillay and

Victo Singh any room for scoring.

Earlier, the usually reliable penalty corner did not work out for the Lions.

However, Ravi Pal ran along the baseline to cut a rebound, and then whacked it

to the other side of the net for the match’s first goal. After Arjun Antil set

up, left winger Jarnail Singh deflected a close range ball to add to the woes of

the Wizards. The Lions are in full flow at the moment and the tournament is

likely to get even more exciting in the coming days.

Schedule for March 25: Chennai Cheetahs vs Sher-E-Punjab at Mayor Radhakrishnan

Hockey Stadium, Chennai, 7pm; Bhopal Badshahs vs Mumbai Marines at Bhopal; 9pm.

Live on Neo Sports.

M.No 44

Day 22: Saturday 24.3.2012:

Bhopals are the Sultans of Swing

* Bhopal Badshahs script a brilliant 4-4 draw against Chandigarh Comets

* Shailendra Singh Bundela scores two goals to fashion the miraculous

fightback, also wins the man-of-the-match award; Affan Yousaf and Sameer Dad

score one apiece for the Badshahs

Bhopal, March 24, 2012: The goals have been coming thick and fast in the

inaugural Bridgestone World Series Hockey but the real heroes of the tournament

are the fighters who have come back from behind.

In an incredible fight back, probably the show-stopper match of the tournament

till now, Bhopal Badshahs scripted an unbelievable draw after trailing 4-0 at

halftime against Chandigarh Comets here. Their gutsy goalkeeper Baljit Singh

brought a brilliant save against Pakistani star Rehan Butt, who had an empty

goal post in front and was about to make it 5-0. Shailendra Singh Bundela led

the fight back for the hosts with two goals, with the final one coming off an

unexpected deflection at the last minute which took the Comets goalkeeper

completely by surprise.

Everything went right for Comets in the first half. All the three penalty

corners were converted before colt Amir Khan added one through field effort.

With a mountain to climb in the second session, Badshahs struck twice a goal

apiece from Affan Yousaf and Sameer Dad before Shailendra Singh Bundela cleverly

made use of two penalty corners to see his side not only escape from defeat but

also salvage a point from what appeared a hapless situation.

Comets fructified their first penalty corner, though it was difficult to aver

whether it was by design or fluke. Gurjinder Singh got the pushed ball with a

bad stop, could not take the shot, yet in the spur of moment, sent it gently

backwards to Sukhwinder ‘Gabbar’ Singh. The Canadian star lost no time to grab

the chance, and whacked a deceptive forehand that crashed into the middle of the

net.

The hard working Bharat Chhikara fetched the second penalty corner. Gurjinder

Singh’s delayed shot first hit the charger’s stick, but on deflection menacingly

veered towards the net. Goalie Baljit Singh jumped to block, yet the ball

bounced off his right hand to hit the roof of the net, giving an idea of the

power that Gurjinder packed in his drag flick.

The second goal spurred the Badshahs, they created chances from left flank and

had better share of the attacks. Still the goals eluded them. First Lalit

Upadhyay’s forehand from left of the circle hit the other post, and then an

alert Ajitesh Roy made a couple of goaline saves.

In the early moments of second quarter, Sukhwinder Singh added another when a

rebound landed right on his footsteps in the third penalty corner drill. The

goalie was already beaten and laid on the ground as Sukhwinder kept his shot

high and deceptive.

However, livewire Affan Yousaf breathed life into the Badshahs four minutes into

the lemon time. Covering his ball from chasing Jiwa Mohan, Affan entered the D

from the centre to hit a reverse. Five minutes later, Lalit surged into the

circle from the right flank, sent a parallel pass. Pakistan’s former captain

Mudassar Ali Khan, who played his first WSH encounter today, showed his class,

teamed with the solid medio Waseem Ahmed to create enough chances for the

Badashahs to salvage their prestige.

Badshahs coach Vasudevan Baskaran deployed a new man for executing the penalty

corner in the 60th minute to a thunderous applause. Bundela played a perfect

saviour role to send a grounder that brought the score to 4-3 and then posted

another one six minutes before the hooter to engineer the best draw of the

tournament in its three weeks of existence.

Schedule for March 25: Chennai Cheetahs vs Sher-E-Punjab at Mayor Radhakrishnan

Hockey Stadium, Chennai, 7pm; Bhopal Badshahs vs Mumbai Marines at Bhopal; 9pm.

Live on Neo Sports.