Railways, IA score convincing wins in National Hockey

Jalandhar, Oct 23 (UNI) Star-studded Indian Airlines and former champions Railways have virtually assured themselves of a place in the knockout stage of the quater-finals in the Dainik Bhaskar-Tracer 62nd Senior National Hockey Championship being played at four centers in Punjab.

In today's matches, Indian Airlines hammered Himachal Pradesh 15-0 in a Pool-E encounter while Railways thrashed Andhra Pradesh 7-1 in a Pool-B match. For both the title contenders this was their third straight victory.

Meanwhile Delhi were held to a 1-1 draw against Uttar Pradesh in a Pool-G match.

In other matches, Pondicherry mauled Andaman and Nicobar islands 17-0 in a Pool-B match, while Jammu and Kashmir kept their hopes alive for a place in the next stage with a 13-3 thrashing of Tripura in a Pool-G match.

At Bhaini Sahib, Indian Airlines toyed with Himachal Pradesh, pumping in 10 goals in the first half and then another five after the breather. For the winners international Arjun Hallappa scored three goals while skipper Samir Dad, Lazrus Barla and Brozen Singh, each got a brace. Airlines converted five penalty corners into goals.

In another match, Jammu and Kashmir had an easy outing against Tripura winning 13-3 after leading 4-1 at half time. For the winners, Surinder, Gurjeet and Mandeep scored four goals each.

In the third match at Bhaini Sahib, Delhi and UP plated a 1-1 draw, after a goalless first half. UP took the lead in the 64th minute of play through Imran Khan, and five minutes later, Delhi drew level, with Jatinder Singh scoring a field goal.

At the GNDU campus in Amritsar, Andhra Pradesh aware of the Railways attack, put up a strong defence and allowed only one goal in the first half. However after the breather, the Andhra defence crumbled in the face of the onslaught of the railwaymen and conceded six goals.

For the Railways, Hardeep and Chander got a brace, while the lone goal for the losers came off the stick of Ajay Babu.

In the second match at Amritsar, lowly placed Pondicherry had a field day against Andaman and Nicobar islands, after leading 6-0 at half time. This match was of no consequence as both the teams have virtually been eliminated.

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