Its Punjab Vs Air India final in the National Championship

Formidable Punjab will take on Air India in the final of the bangalore National championship on Tuesday

First semifinal in detail
Bangalore, Oct 1: Last year’s runners-up Karnataka squandered a 2-0 lead and went down 2- 3 to Air India who scored the match winner just as the hooter went to enter the final of the Sr men’s National hockey championship here on Monday.

Air India, out of the frame for a major portion of the match with Karnataka leading 2-0 on goals by Pundalik Bellary (32nd) and Nitin Thimmaiah (44th), enjoyed a profitable 20-minute spell when they scored thrice.

Arjun Halappa converted two penalty strokes (50th, 61st) before Vinaya Vokkaliga slammed home from a penalty corner just after the final hooter went bringing the curtain down on a stormy match that saw three yellow card suspensions.

The biggest losers were Karnataka who were clearly the better team, but failed to maintain composure under pressure in a game that was not short on provocative actions.

Karnataka, boasting of younger, fitter and faster players, were left to rue the half-a-dozen opportunities they missed, especially in the first-half when they should have scored more than once before Bellary found the net off a Rafeeq Sheikh pass just before half-time.

After resumption, Karnataka continued in the same vein to take a 2-0 lead when Nitin Thimmaiah finished a fine solo run with a reverse hit to the boards, with goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh letting the ball through between his feet.

Thereafter, the match turned as Karnataka, unhappy with a few umpiring decisions lost their composure especially after Air India were awarded a penalty stroke following a stick-check infringement on Shivendra Singh inside the circle.

Halappa converted to put Air India back in the game and the veteran forward came good with another penalty stroke nine minutes later when Vinaya’s penalty corner attempt struck defender Bipin Bopaiah on the foot.

With the match level at 2-2, tempers were on short fuse leading to yellow card suspension of Halappa and Karnataka captain VR Raghunath in the 62nd minute. The hosts were then reduced to nine when Nikin Thimmaiah was sent out on a yellow card.

Air India stepped up the pressure and with about a minute left for the close, received a penalty corner that Vinaya converted on the second attempt even as the hooter went.

Karnataka team coach Kishore said: “I thought we played extremely well, but unfortunately, things did not go our way in the end when a couple of decisions went against them, but yes, it would be a good experience for the boys.”

The results (semi-finals)

Air India 3 (Arjun Halappa 50th, 61st; Vinaya Vokkaliga 70th) beat Karnataka 2 (Pundalik Bellary

32nd; Nitin Thimmaiah 44th).

Punjab 4 (Gurjinder Singh 15th, 21st; Sarvanjit Singh 51st; Satbir Singh 58th) beat Haryana 1

(Naveen Antil 58th).

Second semifinal in detail

Punjab enters final of 2nd Hockey India Senior Men National Championship

Bangalore, Oct 1: Punjab scored a comprehensive 4-1 win over defending champions Haryana to enter the final of Hockey India’s second senior men’s National hockey championship, here on Monday.

Leading 2-0 at half-time, Punjab scored through penalty corner specialist Gurjinder Singh (15th, 21st), Satbir Singh (51st) and skipper Sarvanjit Singh (55th) before Haryana notched a consolation goal in the 58th minute through Naveen Antil.

Punjab looked the better drilled outfit with a lot of character and composure while Haryana committed far too many errors that put them on the defensive for much of the match before Naveen Antil scored a consolation goal 12 minutes from close.

Punjab controlled and dictated the pace from the start to enjoy the upper hand. There was variety in their moves with the forwards never starved of passes from the midfield.

Up front, the Punjab forwards showcased their skill and pace to repeatedly wrong foot the defenders while at the back, they always had enough men to repel Haryana attacks.

In contrast, Haryana depended far too much on ace midfielder Sardar Singh to construct moves that tended to be right-wing oriented and with the Punjab defenders excelling in marking and covering, the attacks came to naught.

Playing from very deep positions, Sardar Singh did his best, but he appeared more effective in the second half when he decided to join the attacks and even forced a penalty corner, Haryana’s first of two in the 40th minute, but could not convert.

It was Gurjinder, the collegian from Mohali, who laid the foundation for Punjab’s victory with two penalty corner conversions in the 16th and 22nd minutes. The first drag-flick was high and to the left of goalkeeper Nanak Singh while the second was low to the right that beat the custodian all ends up.

After the change of ends, Punjab stepped up the pace and struck twice more through Satbir Singh who flicked home a pass from Akashdeep Singh and then set up Sarvanjit for the fourth goal with 15 minutes left on the clock.

Haryana enjoyed their best moments in the last quarter when they forced a few good moves and Naveen Antil found the boards from open play to provide some solace to last year’s champions.

“We played to a definite plan today and that was to be selective in going on the attacks. That helped us to have sufficient men in the defence.

“We also scored goals at regular intervals and that helped us to keep Haryana under pressure. Yes, Gurjinder also made a big difference. He is a fine prospect and hopefully, he will improve further,” said Punjab coach Baljit Singh Saini.