Services, Tamilnadu, Punjab move into knockout stage

Jalandhar, Oct 23 (UNI) Former champions Services and Punjab and Tamil Nadu became the first three teams to move into the knockout stage of the quarter-finals in the Dainik Bhaskar-Tracer 62nd Senior National Hockey Championship being played at four centers in Punjab.

Meanwhile star-studded Indian Airlines and another former champion Railways too have strengthened their claims for the knock out stage, recording their third successive victories in their respective Pools.

In a constant show of form, star drag flicker Jugraj Singh scored a hattrick (four goals) and enabled hosts Punjab to defeat the young Indian Univerisities 5-1 goals in a Pool-A encounter. With their third successive win, the hosts moved into the knockout stage.

Services and Tamil Nadu completed their league fixtures,with the former thrashing Haryana 8-2 in a Pool-H match, while the latter overcame a stubborn challenge from Bengal to emerge winners 3-1 in a Pool-F match.

In other matches of the day, Indian Airlines hammered Himachal Pradesh 15-0 in a Pool-E encounter while Railways thrashed Andhra Pradesh 7-1 in a Pool-B match.

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

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh registered its first victory in the tournament beating Vidarbha 2-0 in Pool-C, while Maharastra beat Bihar 4-1 in another Pool-A match and Karnataka thrashed Manipur 6-1 in a Pool-C league match.

In other outings billed for today, 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. In another encounter, Mizoram who have been impressive so far, recorded their first victory beating Kerala 4-2 in Pool-H.

In the crucial league match between Punjab and Indian Universities, at the Olmpian Surjit Singh hockey stadium here, Jugraj Singh gave another spectacular performance for the hosts scoring four goals in a row in the 7th, 19th, 30th and 47th minute. Jagbir Singh and Ranjodh Singh were the other scorers for the winners scoring one goal each.

The lone goal for Universities team was posted by upcoming player Yadvendra Singh in the 54th minute.

Jugraj has been exhibiting good form in the tournament from the start. He scored three goals in the first match against Chhattishgarh and two goals in the second outing against Bihar.

In another match here, Madhya Pradesh beat Vidharbha 2-0. The goal scorers for the winners were Asad Khan in 53rd minute and Vinod Khanna in 68th minute of the play.

Maharashtra beat Bihar 4-1, after both teams were level1-1 at half time. Bihar took the lead in the 19th minute through a field goal scored by Captain Xavier Gidh (1-0). In the 22nd minute, the equaliser came from Amul Musale for Maharashtra(1-1). In the 52nd minute and in 66th minute Santosh Musale scored two goals for Maharashtra (3-1). In the 69th minute Umesh Pulgen completed the tally(4-1).

In the last match here, Karnataka beat Manipur 6-1, with the first two goals coming from the sticks of Laxman Rao in the 20th and 24th minute (2-0). Appana also scored a brace while Pundalic B and Dinesh got a goal apiece for the winners. The lone goal scorer for the losers was W Bishmanber.

(Eds picking up from CH 5, para seven (At the PAU campus), slugged sports-hockey-lead nationals) UNI SS HS DH DB1954