The Hindu : Karnataka sails into quarterfinals

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 31, 2002

Sport

Sport - Hockey

Karnataka sails into quarterfinals

By Our Sports Reporter

Anoop Singh (centre) of Jammu and Kashmir battles for possession with Karnataka's Chengappa (left) and Bharath in a Pool A match of the sub-junior National hockey championship at Bangalore on Monday. Karnataka defeated Jammu and Kashmir 2-1.

BANGALORE Dec. 30. Defending champion Karnataka cruised into the quarterfinals of the National sub-junior hockey championship. In a Pool A match at the Dr. Ambedkar Stadium here on Monday, the host defeated Jammu and Kashmir 2-1 and notched its fourth consecutive victory to top the group with 12 points.

The match had hardly warmed up when Jammu and Kashmir fired with Prabjoth Singh sounding the boards in the very first minute.

However the match's excitement was nearly marred, as in the fifth minute a scuffle between players left Jammu and Kashmir's Inderjeet Singh nursing bruises on his nose. And in the melee, Karnataka's Kishore was issued a yellow card.

The incident proved to be a preview of more bad blood that flowed freely throughout the match with the players often exchanging heated words. Karnataka, badly in need of a victory to sustain its hopes of a championship encore, found the equaliser in the seventh minute and soon found the grip to strangle the visitors. Jammu and Kashmir goalkeeper Prithpal Singh after blocking a shot, used his palms to push the stationary ball and umpire Alphonso showed the spot and Ravi Kumar converted with ease.

The match soon lost its competitive edge, as Karnataka's dominance brooked no resistance. A Nanaiah shot was thwarted by Prithpal Singh but it proved to be a brief respite as the host mounted its attacks on Chengappa's searing runs.

Chengappa was however guilty of latching onto the ball for too long and that often helped the defenders to choke his belated passes. But Chengappa's haunting presence near the rival goalmouth did succeed in the end as he found his mark with a neat deflection off a Bharath stinger in the 37th minute.

Jammu and Kashmir suffered its first defeat in four matches and finished its league engagements with nine points while Karnataka sailed into the quarterfinals, commencing here on Wednesday.

In another Pool A match, Rajasthan defeated Vidharba 2-1. N. Abay Singh and Devendra Saini scored for the winner while Vidarbha's lone goal was scored by Aslam Munnawar.

In a Pool C match, Hyderabad defeated Tripura 8-1. Md. Shaffiuddin (3), M.A. Aleem (3), Ghouse Khan and Abrar Hussain scored for Hyderabad while Tripura's consolation goal came from Soumendra in the 27th minute.

Manipur, runner-up in the last edition, suffered a scare as Kerala held firm with a 2-2 scoreline at halftime in a Pool H fixture.

However Manipur edged past with a 3-2 verdict as Tompok Singh scored the winner in the 37th minute.

Earlier, Joychandra Singh and Romen Singh scored for Manipur while Kerala's resistance hinged on the efforts of Shameer Ali and Fahad.

The following players were disqualified after they were found over age in medical tests:

Parmesh (Karnataka), Mahendranath (U.P.), Santosh Soreng (Orissa), Manjith Singh (J&K), K. Gajendra (AP), Sudhir Bhengra and Ujwal Dung Dung (Bihar), Gaurav Tirkey and Khushwant Singh (Chd), Prakash Kerketa (Jharkhand), Dilbar Singh (Punjab), Amita Manikpuri (Chattisgarh), Saurav Mishra (Delhi) and Jayantha (Manipur).

Other results: Pool E: Punjab 5 (Manvir Singh 2, Jalwinder Singh, Navjosh Singh and Parveen Kumar) bt Delhi 0; Jharkhand 4 (Bikram Munda, Juran Singh, Sugun Nayak and Krishna Purty) bt Madhya Bharat 0.

Pool F: Tamil Nadu 5 (Philip Martin, Raja, Kalikumaran, L. Stephen and S. Kousikan) bt Madhya Pradesh 0; Gujarat 2 (Mohite Dhaval and Meshak Prashant) bt Patiala 0.

Pool G: Punjab and Sindh Bank 1 (Kuljinder Singh) bt Chandigarh 0; Bihar 3 (Riyazuddin, Satish Hereng and Nirmal Dhan) bt Maharashtra 2 (Imran Sheikh and Nilesh Ghatge).

Pool H: Chattisgarh 1 (Mukesh Jaiswal) bt Assam 0.

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