Rupinder’s treble helps India down Britain in Azlan Shah

S. THYAGARAJAN

With a display that was as stunning as it was scintillating, India subdued the tournament favourite, Great Britain, riding on the crest of a hat-trick by the gangling 23-year-old Rupinder Pal Singh in the Azlan Shah hockey tournament on Friday. India won 3-1 and led 1-0 at half-time.

Shrugging off the blues arising from the reverse against Korea on Thursday, the Indians were a picture of confidence from the start.

Prompted well by the mid-field, where Halappa and Gurbaj were proficient as ever, the frontline featuring Ravipal, Chandi and Roshan Minz wove intricate patterns to push the redoubtable British defenders into errors.

Nothing testifies to it better than the five penalty corners — three in the second half, two of which resulted in goals.

Indisputably, it was the three perfect penalty corner hits by Rupinder Pal Singh that brought Great Britain down. Heartening was the confidence level of the combination.

None symbolised this as much as Rupinder, with Mahadik and goalkeeper Chetri playing stellar roles in equal measure.

Chetri kept the tempo at a high pitch, effecting a couple of lovely saves from James Tindell, who was also guilty of flunking a couple of chances just yards from the post.

Even Richard Mantel’s scorching shots held no terror for Chetri who padded them away with beaming nonchalance.

The team blended impressively, especially in the mid-field and in the attack.

The role of the deep defenders cannot be appreciated in the same breath for they created a few tense moments for themselves, at least in the final stages when they conceded a goal to James Tindell.

Quite predictably, chief coach, Harendra Singh, was elated.

He was happy that Rupinder Pal Singh is shaping well. “We lost the fitness and not a hockey match,” remarked Jason Lee, GB’s coach.

PAKISTAN DOWNS KOREA

Korea tumbled out from a position of advantage after having enjoyed the lead twice to Pakistan. There were two stages when the game swung Pakistan’s way.

First was the goal with charm written all over it by Rehan Butt that fetched the equaliser in the first-half.

The second was the bewitching penalty corner drive by Sohail Abbas for restoring parity 2-2.

The Korean goalkeeper was flummoxed by the velocity of the shot. That happened seven minutes before the final whistle.

Then Haseem Khan took credit for the lead and Waqas Akbar increased it on the stroke of full time.

Zubair provided an element of danger every time he wove in earned the recognition for his hard work as Man-of-the-match.

The Koreans for whom, Jong Jang Hyun was the pillar of strength, helped Hyun Hye Sung net both the goals in penalty corners.

Faisal Saari flunked a penalty stroke six minutes before close for Malaysia but Australia snatched the match 35 seconds from the hooter when Jason Wilson pumped in from a penalty corner sequence for a 2-1 victory. Saturday is a rest day.

The results: Pakistan 4 (Rehan Butt, Sohail Abbas, Haseem Khan, Waqas Akbar) bt Korea 2 (Hyun Hye Sung 2); India 3 (Rupinder Pal Singh 3) bt Great Britain 1 (James Tindell); Australia 1(Simon Orchard, Jason Wilson) beat Malaysia 1 (Tajuddin).