Punjab, Air-India in pool decider

Bangalore, May 24: Fancied Punjab and Air-India, with an all-win record, shared the top spot in Group B with nine points from three matches...

Bangalore, May 24: Fancied Punjab and Air-India, with an all-win record, shared the top spot in Group B with nine points from three matches and meet each other in the crucial pool decider on Sunday.

Both the teams conceded a goal each to minnows Madhya Pradesh and Pondicherry but recorded huge victories in the Punjab and Sind Bank 58th Senior National Hockey Championship at Sports Authority of India South Centre here on Saturday.

With the 21-1 win over Madhya Pradesh, Punjab enjoy a better record and just need a draw in the last league encounter, while Air-India must record a victory if they nurture any hopes of making it to the quarterfinals. If the match ends in a draw, the team which scored more goals will enter the knock-out stage.

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In another Pool A league match, Bihar defeated Kerala 11-2 but both the teams are out of reckoning as Indian Airlines already made the grade.

On Saturday, Punjab looked a better side and Air-India, who made their debut in this Nationals after being granted the associate membership by the Indian Hockey Federation, did not play to their potential despite having six international players in their ranks.

Olympian Anil Aldrin received a nasty cut on his face and should he decide to sit out, Air-India will have a tough time in the defence on the morrow. Punjab boasts of a star line-up too.

Internationals Jagdev Singh and Pargat Singh look solid in defence and penalty corner speacialist Baljit Singh Dhillon, Harpreet Singh, Ramandeep Singh, besides junior India campers, Daljit Singh and Sukhbinder Sing Jr, add punch to the attack.

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Unless Air-India plays with rejuvenated vigour to raise its game considerably, making it to the last-eight stage would be a far cry.

However, on Saturday, Air-India had no difficulty in trouncing Pondicherry 15-1, though their performance was far from impressive. Devinder Kumar scored four goals while Alex D’ Souza notched up three. Edward Aranha, Kishore Kumar and Anil Aldrin struck twice and Surinder Singh and Rajesh Chauhan shot once each. For the losers, Satheesh Kumar scored the lone goal.

Sarabjit ‘tricks: The highlight of Punjab’s victory over Madhya Pradesh was Sarabjit Singh’s six-goal binge which included a hattrick. Sarabjit slammed five goals in the space of eight minutes just before the break to put the issue beyond doubt. The other goals came through Baljit Dhillon, Baljit Bhullar, Sukhbinder Singh Jr (three each), Surjeet Singh, Daljit Singh (two each) and, Jagdev Singh and Harpreet Singh.

Bihar began with a bang scoring in the very first minute through Policar Hemrom’s goal and Naman Herenj added one more two minutes later, but Kerala pulled one back in the ninth minute when Praveen Kumar sounded the boards. Bihar added three more goals through Augustine Guria, Issac Aind and Mansidh Topno before the crossover.

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In the second session too, they scored at regular intervals to pump in six more goals. Mansidh Topno and Policar Hemrom added two more each, while Augustine and skipper J Dung Dung converted one each. K P Sameer was the other scorer for Kerala.Today’s Results

Punjab beat Pondicherry 21-1

Air-India beat Madhya Pradesh 15-1

Bihar beat Kerala 11-2

PSB drew with Services 2-2

UP beat Bengal 3-2

CRPF bt Manipur 12-4