New Zealand holds India; Pakistan drubs Egypt for first victory

S. Thyagarajan

KEEN TUSSLE: India’s Dilip Tirkey and New Zealand’s David Kossof fight for the ball in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup on Thursday.

IPOH: If ever a chronicler takes the trouble of compiling the times when India had conceded the lead in the fading minutes of a contest, he may have to write volumes.

One more instance surfaced on Thursday, when it failed to hold on to the 2-1 lead in the last seven minutes. India slithered itself into a complex situation and will have to wait till Saturday to know whether its place in the final is secure or not in the Azlan Shah hockey tournament. The 2-2 draw with New Zealand has added an element of suspense over the qualifiers for the title fight.

A win would have confirmed India’s cup final. Everything pointed out to that, until a needless error ended in a penalty corner. The Kiwis seized it with palpable glee to produce the equaliser.

All the good work engineered commendably by Sandeep Singh up to that point evaporated in a wave of disappointment.

A heavy downpour that preceded the contest delayed the start by an hour and a quarter. The heavy ground conditions called for greater circumspection as the ball rolled slowly. Everyone had put in a bit of extra effort.

By the time India adjusted to the surface, the Kiwis had struck, Richard Patherick hitting in a penalty corner.
Valiant fightback

India’s fightback was valiant. No one stood out in this more than the skipper, who not only scored both the goals from penalty corners, but also played an anchor role inside the circle, clipping off several dangerous moves.

India had three penalty corners in the first and two in the second. Sandeep succeeded with his third effort to level the score and midway in the second half hoisted the lead raising visions of India making it to the final.

The first shot went like a bullet to the left of goalkeeper Pontifex, and the second was a carpet drive into the boards.

Support for Sandeep came from Gurubaj and Halappa on the right with Sunil causing a good measure of trouble to the rival. Gurvinder Singh flashed into the picture repeatedly as did Tushar Khandekar, but the usually ebullient Prabhjot was subdued throughout.

Gurvinder Singh Chandi is still struggling to get his touch. Mid-fielder Sardar Singh was conspicuous with his perfect distribution but the frontline did not measure up to the expectations.
Kiwis’ tactics

The Kiwi tactics of exerting pressure on the defenders succeeded largely especially after India surged into the lead from a penalty corner by Sandeep Singh.

Prompted well by Blair Hopping and using the wingers, New Zealand wove circles around the Indians. True, the goalkeeper was intrepid enough to baulk a few shots but the flick by Joseph Barth proved the clincher.

As things stand, three teams are in for a spot in the final, with even Pakistan having an outside chance. All these make Saturday’s programme enormously significant. India and New Zealand have five points each from three matches while Malaysia is still on top of the table with six points.

Even a draw on Saturday against New Zealand is enough for the home team to book a place in the final. But both India, which takes on Pakistan, and the Kiwis, pitted against the host team, will have to score an outright victory. In short, India cannot afford to lose to Pakistan.

Understandably, coach Harendra Singh was disappointed that the team failed to hang on to the lead for over seven minutes before the hooter. He also conceded that the forwards were not up to the mark when it comes to scoring. Sandeep continues to be the principal scorer.

Pakistan scored its first win to take three points in three matches beating Egypt by three goals to nil. Egypt finished its programme with two points.

Friday is a rest day.

The results: India 2 (Sandeep Singh 2) drew with New Zealand 2 (Richard Patherick, Joseph Barth); Pakistan 4 (Imran Muhammad, Shakeel Abbasi 3) bt Egypt 0.