Tamil Nadu staves off Karnataka's late surge

26 July, 1997

CHENNAI, July 26.

The charm and craft of hockey mingled in a right mixture with the intensity of the combat on view to give the Madras Cricket Club-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey tournament an exotic start at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium last evening.

Doubly gratifying for the goodly crowd was the win registered by Tamil Nadu against the fiercely combative and never-say-die combination from Kar­nataka. The score line of 4-3 tells the tale emphatical­ly.

At one point of time shortly after the break it looked as though Karnataka was outplayed. Tamil Nadu was leading 4-1 after a comfortable 3-1 score at half time. Till this point everything rolled well for the home side for whom the pivot Mohammad Riaz and the striker L. Prabhakaran played stellar roles. No less efficient was the display put up by the mid­fielder Thirumalavalavan and the play-maker Paul Kirubakaran.

Initially, Karnataka too matched the rival move for move, thanks to the initiative, imagination and incisiveness demonstrated by the front liners Samson Fernandez and Amar Ayyamma. But the attack could not maintain that measure of consistency ow­ing to the inadequate support from the midfield. The fact that Karnataka forced as many as nine penalty corners, six in the first half, perhaps underlines the efficacy of the attack.

Classic goal

Tamil Nadu's frontline showed that touch of fi­nesse surged ahead midway through when Moham­mad Riaz was obstructed by goal-keeper Bopanna. Umpire Shakeel Quereshi showed no hint of hes­itation in showing the spot. Thirumalavalavan flicked in the lead. But the joy of moving up proved ephemeral. Amar Ayyamma produced a classic goal, weaving around the defence and beating the ad­vancing Tamil Nadu goal-keeper Natarajan lock, stock and barrel.

It was then Tamil Nadu's turn to strike and it did that in style when Thirumalvalavan slotted in a re­bound after Ravi's shot was blocked by Bopanna. Close on half time, L.Prabhakaran, whose quick sal­lies through the defence evoked ripples of excitement among the crowd scored from a penalty corner scoop that gave goal-keeper Bopanna no chance. Prabhakaran slotted again on resumption working a beauti­ful move with Thirumalvalavan.

A trace of complacency that crept into the ap­proach of Tamil Nadu at that point, cost the team dear in the end. True, the exit of Dinesh Naik early in the match enhanced the vulnerability of the defence but the team was totally disorganised in this zone, especially in the final minutes when the Karnataka frontline worked on full throttle.

Only three minutes remained when Kamal Horo barged in dangerously. In an effort to thwart the intruder, goal-keeper Natarajan stick-checked the at­tacker forcing Quereshi to award a stroke. Horo con­verted. Within two minutes Natarajan was guilty of the same solecism against Ekka. Kamal Horo scored again from the resultant stroke to bring Karnataka almost to the brink of levelling the score. Only the final whistle saved Tamil Nadu from this humiliation after the 4-1 lead.

Earlier, The Hindu Hockey Club prevailed over Ma­dras Cricket Club by a solitary goal in the exhibition match to mark the inauguration of 150th year cele­brations of the club. The all-important goal was scored by centre forward Palani midway in the sec­ond session. The teams were presented to Mr. N. Bhanot. Tournament Director.

Mr. A. Vellayan, Managing Director, Tube Invest­ments Ltd. inaugurated the main tournament.

The Indian Junior team preparing for the World Cup at Milton Keynes next September had an audi­ence with and secured the blessings of yogi Jaggi Vasudev from Coimbatore. The yoga teacher who was present at the ground witnessed the match after being introduced to the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka teams.

The Indian team is likely to take part in yoga exercises at Jaggi Vasudev's ashram near Coimba­tore. The National team for the Olympics at Atlanta also spent a few days at his ashram last year.