Delhi enter final of Rangaswamy Cup after 60 years

Jalandhar, Nov 2 (UNI) Delhi, virtually a Punjab National Bank squad and defending champions Punjab and Sind Bank, have staked their strong claim for the Rangaswamy Cup, a symbol of supremacy of Indian hockey, as they entered the final of the Dainik Bhashkar-Tracer 62nd National Hockey Championship at the Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium here today.

They proved today that their victories in the preliminary league, pre-quarter-final knockout and the Super League, were not fluke.

Delhi, having 15 playing members of the PNB in the line-up, registered another impressive 2-1 triumph as they downed Namdharis, who were emerging as dark horse of the tournament, in the first semi-final match.

Later in the second semi-final, a last-minute penalty-corner goal by Taswarjit Singh clinched the issue in favour of holders Punjab and Sind Bank who eked out a narrow 1-0 win against a star-packed Indian Oil Corporation Limited.

Tomorrow Namdharis will face Indian Oil Corporation for the Hardline Cup at 1000 hrs while the final between Delhi and PSB will be played at 1400 hrs.

The Punjab and Sind Bank-IOC match was a lackluster affair though both teams had their share of chances to score. Some of their moves ended fruitless as the turf has outlived its life. PSB were also handicapped by the absence of their dependable defender Sharanjit Singh, who was penalised for one match along with Chandigarh's Ravipal who were shown red card for their unsportmanship behaviour.

PSB coach Olympian Rajinder Singh said, ''Our bench strength was very weak as their top players Ravipal, Vikram and Gurvinder Chandi have joined other organisations. We are playing without a full bench strength. Players naturally did not get required rest to recover .'' The PSB players first threatened the IOC goal in the fifth minute. A combined move between Kulwinder Singh and Parminder Singh did beat IOC goalkeeper Olympian Devesh Chauhan but Bikramjit Singh thwarted the move and cleared the ball before any damage could be done.

IOC have to blame themselves for wasting few good opportunities to score and the main culprit was Olympian Prabhjot Singh. On the first occasion Vikram Kant and Inderjit Singh Chadha initiated a move and passed the ball to Prabhjot who in a haste hit in the air and missed the ball.

Four minutes before half time, hardworking Bharat Chikara gave a measured pass to Prabhjot who should have dispatched the ball in the PSB goal but delayed and was dispossessed. In a counter move one minute before half time, PSB missed a golden chance as Rajwinder's cross from the right flank went abegging as no other forward was there to connect it. Rajwinder's should have atoned himself for his lapse in the 57th minute. After receiving a pass from the right, Rajwinder shot went wide due to the bumpy pitch.

As every body was prepared to witness the extra time proceedings, PSB were awarded a penalty corner in the 69th minute. Mandeep took the push and Baljit Singh Chandi stopped it for Taswarjit Singh to dispatch the ball into the IOC goal with a sizzling shot.PSB were awarded two penalty corners.

IOC forced four penalty corners.

For records shake, IOC's winning streak was broken by PSB today.

They did not lose even a single match out of 25 they had played this season so far and have won the Gurmit Hockey, Shastri Hockey and Bangalore League.

Earlier, the Delhi players functioned like a well-coordinated team as 15 playing members and coach Ashok Sharma and manager Narinder Singh Saini also belong to PNB which are Delhi State champions. Delhi had also entered the semi-final in 1977 and lost to Railways. It was after 60 long years that Delhi qualified for the final today.

The two field goals Delhi scored to down Namdharis were treat to watch. A combined move among captain Bikash Toppo, Sukhpal Singh, Prem Kumar and Parmod Kumar culminated into Delhi first goal with the last named banging home with authority. Maintaining their pressure, Delhi doubled the margin in the 15th minute Prem Kumar converted a pass from Gurwinder Singh. The winners led 2-0 at half time.

Namdharis gave improved display on resumption. They tried their best and went all out. Four minutes in the second half saw, their best opportunity to score. With goalkeeper Jasbir Singh already have charged, Sukhjinder had only Jasbir to beat but he fumbled at the nick of the time and lost the chance. Their efforts bore fruits in the 60th minute when they were awarded a penalty corner. Gurvinder could not properly stopped the ball but just managed to pass it to Gurcharan Singh on the right flank to do the rest. Gurpreet Singh of Namdharis was shown yellow card by international umpire Satinder Sharma for deliberate infringement against Delhi's Prem Kumar.

UNI