India holds Australia in Azlan Shah

S. THYAGARAJAN

An immaculate penalty corner by Rupinderpal Singh facilitated a 1-1 draw for India against Australia on Sunday in the Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament. India has four points from three matches.

In more than one way, it was a satisfying result. The Aussies were nowhere near their best. That should not take away the merit of India’s show which was well programmed and executed. The accent strengthening the defence bastion where the hard working Mahadik produced a lion-hearted performance and deservedly gained the nomination for the Man-of-the-Match award.

Almost throughout Mahadik was unerring in his interceptions and tackles. True, there were many suspenseful moments inside the circle, but the Indian defenders headed by Mahadik were supported admirably by Vikram Pillay, Vikas Pillay and Gurbaj Singh.

Astute as ever, Arjun Halappa produced a handful of stunning passes for the forwards to take a strike. But sadly all of them did not work as neither Guruvinder Chandi nor Shivendra Singh was sharp enough to capitalise on the openings. Shivendra should have earned at least two goals.

Intrepid goalkeeper

The report will be incomplete without a tribute to the intrepid goal-keeping by Adrian D’Souza, who brought off a handful of saves, especially in penalty corners. Ric Charlesworth said the execution by the Aussies was ‘rusty.’

The Aussies held the dominance in the rival area thanks to the incisive movements conceived by Glenn Turner and Jason Wilson. Both the players had their moments inside the circle but it was the opportunism displayed by Jason Wilson that got the goal for Australia early in the first half.

Not long after came the equaliser for India by Rupinder from a penalty corner, the only one earned in the tie. Content to hang on to the verdict, the Indians held on gamely till the final minute despite quite a few things going against them.

Umpiring errors

A slew of umpiring solecism came in for criticism from both teams. A few of them were really perplexing. Both Ric Charlesworth and Harendra Singh expressed surprise over certain rulings in the encounter. Skipper Halappa was equally critical of the supervision.

Great Britain picked up the winning threads, recording a 3-2 victory over Pakistan.

Close contest

The margin reflects the closeness of the contest which was in balance till the final minutes. Britain had the edge throughout, what with Pakistan not coming off good in penalty corners, except one in the five scored by Sohai Abbas for the equaliser.

Britain’s attack was led well by Robert Moore who opened the accounts and he played a crucial role in helping Joathan Clarke get the next two also. Goal-keeper Nicholas Brothers deserves a special mention for his work.

The results: Australia 1(Jason Wilson) drew with India 1 (Rupinderpal Singh); Britain 3(Robert Moore, Jonathan Clarke 2) bt Pakistan 2 (Sohail Abbas, Haseem Khan); New Zealand 1 (Benjamin Collier) drew with Korea 1 (Jong Jang Hyun).

Monday’s matches: Australia vs Pakistan (1.35 p.m.); Great Britain vs New Zealand (3.35 p.m.); India vs Malaysia (5.35 p.m.).