Air India, Punjab to clash in final

BANGALORE: A last-gasp goal by VS Vinaya and skipper Arjun Halappa’s two penalty stroke conversions helped Air India enter the Hockey India Senior National hockey championship final with a stunning 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Karnataka in an ill-tempered semifinal on Monday.

In the first semifinal earlier, Punjab stunned defending champions Haryana 4-1s.

The highlight of the day was the action-packed contest between a star-studded Air India and last year’s finalists Karnataka. With Halappa and host skipper VR Raghunath getting the marching orders in the second session following a fracas, things got more interesting. The game was even briefly halted when Raghunath, making a speedy move, collided with Shivendra Singh.

It turned out to be a frustrating result for Karnataka, who dominated the large part of the contest, gaining the upper hand in the 32nd minute through a Pundalik Bellary goal. Karnataka went 2-0 up in the 44th minute when Nitthin Thimmaiah scored with a sizzling reverse flick. Air India then scored two goals off two penalty strokes (50th and 61st minutes) through Halappa and the stage was set for Vinaya to seal the issue.

Earlier, Punjab scored through penalty corner specialist Gurjinder Singh (15th, 21st), Satbir Singh (51st) and skipper Sarvanjit Singh (55th).

Semifinals (Results): Air India: 3 (Arjun Halappa 50, 61, Pradhan Somanna 70+) bt Karnataka: 2 (Pundalik Bellary 32, Nitin Thimmaiah 44); Punjab: 4 (Gurjinder Singh 15, 21, Sarvanjit Singh 51, Satbir Singh 58) beat Haryana: 1 (N Antil 58).