Indian Airlines make the semis despite loss

The last slot for the semi-finals was not clear till the last match of the league in which Border Security Force (BSF) defeated host Jammu and Kashmir 6-4 but this was not enough to stop Indian Airline’s take off for the semis.

Earlier Punjab scored an emphatic 4-0 win over Bengal to record their third straight win and become the third team to make it to the semi-finals.

Indian Airlines and BSF finished the pool "D’ with six points each-two victories and a defeat- but the holders pipped the security men by virtue of better goal difference.

Airlines scored 14 goals and conceded five goals while BSF scored 10 goals and conceded 7 in three matches.

Services after giving indifferent display in first two matches produced superb game but their effort came very late. They ended third with four points while host Jammu and Kashmir were placed last with one point.

Airlines started in whirlwind fashion taking lead in the very first minute through Olympian Dilip Tirkey who converted a penalty corner.

Services hit back quickly and drew parity within five minutes when Satvir Singh shot home off a penalty corner (1-1).

Airlines, with several Olympians in their ranks, put pressure on their rivals and achieved another breakthrough and this time it was again Tirkey who converted a penalty corner (2-1).

The second session saw a totally rejuvenated Services side as they throughly dominated the procedings and for once mighty airlines were forced to fall back and crowd their defence. The Service men pumped three goals in a space of 14 minutes to seal the match in their favour and record their lone win in the league.

Avtar Singh equalised for services in the 42nd minute when he made no mistake in converting a stroke (2-2), Kujar made it 3-2, three minutes later off a penalty corner and then Susan Topno completed the tally in the 56th minute (4-2).

BSF needed 11 goal for clear win over Jammu and Kashmir to get past Indian Airlines for last four berth but they were frustrated by the host.

The security men did manage to score six goals but in the process conceded four goals too and that effectively dashed their hopes.

For security men Harbhajan Singh (12th), Sushil Kumar (25th&46th), Shamim (45th), M.Lakra (49th) and W.Bismobir Singh (62nd) were the goal scorers.

Mandeep Singh (19th&37th ), Inderpal Singh (31st&68th) reduced the margin for the losers.

In the first match of the day, spearheaded by Olympian Baljit Singh Dhillon, Punjab trounced Bengal 4-0.

Scoring two goals in each half, Punjab became the third team to book the semi-final place, others being Railways and Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB).

In the second match of the day Chandigarh pipped Uttar Pradesh 1-0 to end the league assignment with six points from three matches with two victories to their credit.

Uttar Pradesh were third in pool"C’ with three points from as many matches while Bengal ended last having lost all the three matches in the pool.

Bengal simply were no match to their superior rivals and were outplayed in all departments of the game.

Punjab took nine minutes to settle down and opened their account through Surjit Singh, who connected a long cross ,cut through the defence and shot home.

The tally went up 13 minutes later and this time Baljit with his customary drag flick sent the ball home off a penalty corners (2-0).

Punjab players did not go flat out on the offensive in the second half and saved their energies knowing fully well that they are through to the semis.

Still they managed to slam two more goals in this session to end their league assignment scoring nine goals and conceding two.

It was Baljit again who consolidated the lead for the winners, converting yet another penalty corner to score his second and teams’s third goal. This happened in 52nd minute and four minutes before the final whistle Jugraj Singh completed the rout with a fine goal to make it 4-0.

With semi-final slot already decided from the pool"C" the second match between Chandigarh and Uttar Pradesh had nothing but academic interest.

Chandigarh scored the all important goal in the 33rd minutes through Sukhbir Gill and held on the lead for next 37 minute as game became a dull and drab affair.

In the semi-finals to be played on December 15 Punjab will face Railway and Indian Airlines takes on PSB.