PSB,IOC in semis; Namdharis upset Punjab

Jalandhar, Oct 29 (UNI) Hosts Punjab bowed out while holders Punjab and Sind Bank and star-studded Indian Oil Corporation Limited booked their Semi-finals berths in the Dainik Bhaskar-Tracer 62nd Senior National Hockey Championship at the Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium here today.

PSB defeated Chandigarh by 2-0 in a Super League Pool D match which was marred by unsportmanship behaviour of players from both sides. Sharanjit Singh of PSB and Ravi Pal of Chandigarh were shown red cards in the 27 minute. Baljit Singh Sain of PSB was shown yellow card.

The Punjab and Sind Bank got into the lead in the 24th minute when Sharanjit Singh converted a penalty corner. Rajinder Singh then made it safe for the bankmen with a field goal in the 40th minute. It was Punjab and Sind Bank's second successive victory in the three-day super league pool D programme.

Ealier, IOC got the better of Railways and Namdhari XI shattered the aspirations of hosts Punjab by recording identical 1-0 win.

Indian Oil, packed with a number of Olympians and internationals in their line-up, struggled to get the better of Railways.

Punjab, on the other hand, gave a disappointing performance as a team though defender and captain Kanwalpreet Singh discharged his duty with devotion. The Namdhari forwards Sher Singh and Bachitar Singh gave a harrowing time to the Punjab defenders.

Punjab failed to earn even a single penalty corner in the first half. Their four penalty corners came in the 40th, 47th, 48th and 59th minutes. However, they could not convert any of these despite drag flicker Jugraj Singh trying his best.

Namdharis forced penalty corners in the 13th, 14th, 26th, 52nd and 61st minutes. Their fifth and last penalty corner fetched them the all-important goal through Gurpreet Singh.

Indian Oil Corporation fielded Baljit Singh under the bar instead of more experienced Devesh Chauhan. Baljit did a good job and stood like a rock.

The formidable IOC forward line, having heavyweights namely Sardara Singh, Inderjit Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Deedar Singh and Deepak Thakur in their ranks, were lucky to log full points despite Railways enjoying territorial supremacy.

Railway forwards Deepak, captain Raju and Shamash Alam repeatedly penetrated the Indian Oil territory but could not score.

Despite earning penalty corners in the 20th, 21st, 34th, 35th, 37th and 51st minutes, a goal eluded the Railways and they remained luckless.

Indian Oil were awarded a solitary penalty corner in the 12th minute and lanky Deedar Singh converted it with a drag flick.

With two successive triumphs, Indian Oil topped three-team pool B superleague and qualified for semi-final. In their first super league match IOC had beaten Tamil Nadu by 2-1, with Olympian Prabhjot Singh scoring the match-winner in the last minute on Saturday.

Tomorrow's fixtures: Delhi vs Mumbai; Services vs Chandigarh and Air India vs Namdharis.

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