Sensational win for India

S. Thyagarajan

Anxious moments were plentiful. Yet, India survived them, partly through skill and with an element of luck to achieve a sensational 2-1 victory over Korea in the Sultan Azlan Shah cup hockey tournament on Friday.

The intensity of the suspenseful drama can be understood by the fact that the match winner surfaced, 55 seconds before the hooter, from a superb deflection by S. K. Uthappa to the roof of the net.

Seldom does India accomplish a win at the death. On numerous occasions however it has succumbed at that point. Today, in a similar development, India defended a goal, scored from Sandeep Singh’s impeccable penalty corner early in the match till four minutes before the hooter.

During this period, India had weathered heavy pressure, defied four penalty corners and the pace, punch and pugnacity of of the Koreans.

Goal keeper Chetri deserves applause for the saves he brought out from the dangerous flicks by Jang Jong, Nam Hyun Woo and Seo Jong Ho. However, Nam managed to break the resistance of the stout hearted Chetri four minutes from time.

For all the good work by Sardar Singh and Gurbaj in the mid-field supported by Birendra Lakra, the attack functioned in fits and starts. Sunil, usually the anchor man in the frontline was ineffective, repeatedly fumbling in the area of trapping and passing.

Dhramvir Singh and Kothajit worked hard to stem the Korean tide.

Judging from the trend of the contest, it was clear the Koreans were more threatening every minute after conceding the penalty corner goal to Sandeep. Nam Yong and Seo Jong along with You Hyo Sik troubled the defenders incessantly. That the defenders withstood the pressure was one of the highlights.

The Indians were crestfallen when the equalizer emerged from Nam. But in a desperate counter attack they threw in everything in the remaining minutes.

Tushar set the move for that thrilling culmination. His cross from the left was diverted to the roof of the net by S. K.Uthappa. It was a brilliant effort.

Micheal Nobbs was delighted by the outcome although he felt the designed plan went awry in the second half.

Striker Faisal Saari sent the home crowd into the arms of delight with two goals in as many minutes to help Malaysia snatch a point from Great Britain. The teams shared six goals.

When Britain went for the break at 3-1 an easy win was on the cards. The youthful Malaysian team put in a spirited display, but GB was more mobile and methodical. Off the mark within six minutes through Glenn Kirkham, the British were taken aback by a penalty corner conversion by Aslan Misron.

Commanding the exchanges, GB netted two brilliant goals, one by Ashley Jackson off Nick Catlin followed by Rob Moore from a flick by Richard Smith. Malaysia’s veteran goal-keeper, Kumar proved a stumbling block for GB forwards making a handful of saves, but it was Saari who provided a dramatic finish. On Thrusday, Malaysia held Korea for a 1-1 draw.

Listless and uncharacteristically phlegmatic, the Kiwis still managed to accomplish a big victory (5-2) over Argentina.

Probably, the heat and humidity of the afternoon had an impact. Imagine Kiwis netting only two goals out of the 10 penalty corners obtained.

What more, they conceded an early goal and let the encounter on the thread of suspense till midway in the second half when Argentina’s Lucas Vila bemused the defenders and the usually reflexive goal-keeper Pontefax.

It was only the last quarter of the game New Zealand displayed a filament of harmony in the workouts. During this phase, it added three more goals to put the issue beyond a shadow of doubt.

With six points and two successive wins, the Kiwis are well on their way for a podium finish although it may look premature to make such a forecast.

The second defeat for Argentina–it lost to Pakistan on Thursday—should cause a lot of concern to the coach, Pablo Lombi. Goal-keeper Daniel brought off a few smart saves. In the closing minutes the Pan-American champion had a chance to restrict the margin but Pedro Ibarra flunked a penalty stroke.

The results:

New Zealand 5 (Phil Burrows, Richard Patherick, Andy Hayward, Shay Neal, Arun Panchia) beat Argentina 2 (Lucas Comaneneri, Lucas Vila) HT 1-1.

Great Britain 3 (Glenn Kirkham, Ashley Jackson, Rob Moore) drew with Malaysia 3 ( Aslan Misron, Faisal Saari) HT 3-1.

India 2 ( Sandeep Singh, S.K.Uthappa) beat Korea 1 (Nam Hyun Woo) HT 1-0.

Saturday is a rest day.