Day of mixed fortunes for Indian teams

S. THYAGARAJAN

On a day of mixed fortunes, India brushed aside Bangladesh with beaming nonchalance in the men’s hockey competition, registering a 9-0 score while the women’s squad went down fighting to Korea by a solitary goal on Wednesday.

With 16 goals in the kitty in two games, India has acquired enough target practice in Pool ‘B’ before taking on traditional rival Pakistan in the crucial contest on Saturday.

Incidentally, Pakistan began its programme with a thumping 12-0 verdict against Hong Kong China.

Even assuming that Bangladesh was not the contender to contain India, the patterns woven on Wednesday mirrored a touch of authority, if not total adeptness, to seize every opportunity, which coach Brasa wants the team to do.

Expectedly, Sandeep Singh was the centre of India’s scoring, but the report will be reckoned as incomplete without naming Halappa for the work he had put in from the mid-field. This is especially so when the two wing-backs, Gurbaj and Prabodh, failed to distinguish themselves.

The deep defenders were hardly tested.

The frontline witnessed more solid work from Tushar Khandekar who, incidentally, struck India’s 100th goal against Bangladesh when he opened the scoring in the second minute, taking advantage of a pass from Halappa.

India maintains an unbeaten record against Bangladesh having won 17 of the eighteen played so far and all the five contested in the Asian Games.

With six points from two matches, India is well set to take on Pakistan and Japan in the remaining matches. How significant these two are on the road to the semifinals needs no detailed reiteration here.

The lone-goal defeat for the women needs to be commiserated. It is a pity that India conceded full points to the Koreans who looked like losing or conceding a goal any moment after Kin Jongjee had scored in the eighth minute.

There was a noticeable measure of proficiency in the team’s working compared to the total lack of it against Japan. Saba Anjum and Surinder Kaur fashioned several openings, many of which went unutilised or were dispatched inaccurately.

Late in the match Chanchan missed a sitter.

In the closing minutes, Saba Anjum wove in and struck in a melee. The ball rolled in and there was jubilation all round in the Indian camp. But the Koreans protested. The umpire Sanchez Moyang of Argentina reversed her decision after consulting her counterpart, Chen Hong of China. Coach Sandeep Somesh expressed surprise at the way the goal was rejected. He was happy that the team played well, especially in the second half, dominating the proceedings right through.

“They need to score goals, at the end of the day that’s what matters,” Sandeep added. He hoped the team would win at least two of the next three games — Thailand, Kazakhstan and China — to make sure of a podium finish.

China, the defending champion, claimed its third successive victory when it beat Malaysia 6-0, after warding off stiff resistance from the opponent. The winner led 3-0 at half-time.

Thursday’s matches: Men: Pool A: Singapore v Oman (12 noon IST); Malaysia v Korea (3 p.m.). Pool B: Bangladesh v Hong Kong (1 p.m.); Japan v Pakistan (5 p.m.).