Air India and BPCL in semis

Earlier, in a pre-quarter-final match, Punjab Police virtually toyed with Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala whom they routed by a thumping 6-1 margin. Formidable Punjab Police next meet Punjab and Sind Bank Academy in the quarter-final tomorrow. In the last quarter-final fixture Northern Railway are pitted against seeded Punjab and Sind Bank.

The forward line of Air India comprising speedy Gagan Ajit Singh, Rajesh Chauhan, Manoj, Devinder Kumar and Edward Arahana functioned with perfect understanding. Forward Darryl D’Souza was introduced for short periods. Gagan Ajit Singh displayed excellent anticipation to contribute two gem of goals. In the 46th minute Rajesh Chauhan gave a defence splitting pass which was defelected into the goal by Gagan in a flash. His second goal came in the 58th minute. This time Edward Arahana gave a measured pass to Gagan to put his seal on the goal. Gagan Ajit returned the compliments two minutes later by giving a forward pass to Edward Arahana who scored Air India’s fourth goal. Rajesh Chauhan had put his team ahead in the fourth minute through a field goal.

Had Customs not missed a golden chance in the 43rd minute to restore parity, the story could have been more interesting. Following a penalty corner, Daljit Singh’s scoop beat Air India goalkeeper Sudhir Kumar. However, Air India rightfull-back Surinder Kundu made a goalline save.

Manoj rounded off the winners’ tally in the 63rd minute. In between Customs scored two goals through Kulwant Rai (53rd) and Sunil (62nd).

Customs had the consolation of beating their rivals in forcing more penalty corners (eight-three). However, they could capitalise only on one chance.

It was virtually a one-sided affair for BPCL against Chandigarh XI till 59th minute as they had established an unassailable 6-1 lead. As BPCL relaxed a bit, Chandigarh pumped in two goals in quick succession. For Chandigarh, Inderjit Singh (27th and 67th, both penalty strokes) and Vikram Saini (69th) scored for Chandigarh. Saurab Bishnoi (5th), Amar Ayamma (16th), Ajay Kumar (21st), Deepak (38th), SS Gill (46th) and Sabu Varkey (59th) scored for the winners.

Earlier, Punjab Police had full control over their pre-quarter-final match against Rail Coach Factory. Their scorers were Baljit Dhillon (33rd, 38th), Daljit Singh (7th), Gursewak Singh (44th), Harjinder Singh (60th) and Sarvjit Singh (62nd). Walter Lakra got the consolation goal for RCF in the 63rd minute.

Saturday’s fixtures
Punjab and Sind Bank Academy vs Punjab Police (1.30 p.m.); Northern Railway vs Punjab and Sind Bank (3.00 p.m).