Air-India, Mumbai enter Murugappa semis

In the final Pool B match, Bombay XI, who needed just a draw to make the grade, put paid to the aspirations of IHF Juniors thrashing them 5-1. Bombay, the group toppers, will now meet Air-India in the second semifinal on the same day.

IHF Juniors drew the first blood against Mumbai XI in the seventh minute through PrabhjotSingh and raised visions of a fight but two quick goals in the space of two minutes by Bombay effectively closed the match as a contest. Shanta Kumar found the mark in the 22nd minute and in the next minute, Ajay Saroha direct hit from a penalty corner brooked no answer from Juniors custodian Devesh Chouhan.

After the change of ends, Bombay increased the tally through Mukhtiar Singh in the 45th minute. Fed by Sabu Varkey, Deepak Sharma cut into the D and relayed it back to Mukhtiar, whose reverse hit caressed the custodian’s stick before hitting the boards.

In the 55th minute, Saroha sold a dummy before MK Prakash hit the net with an impeccable drag-flick and five minutes from time Varkey, who displayed splendid form on the day, rounded off the tally.

Karnataka scored in the second minute through a direct short-corner conversion by Arjun Halappa, who executed a drag-flick with minimum fuss. Soon after, Samson Fernandez scored two field goals in the space of five minutes. In the seventh minute, BipinFernandez’s diagonal cross found Samson in the danger area and the MEG striker dodged past a defender and sounded the boards. Later, in the 14th minute, he tapped home a rebound after Hyderabad’s custodian Ramesh blocked Bipin’s rasping drive.

In the second session too, they scored two early goals before complacency creeped in. Sunil Benjamin’s field goal came in the 40th minute and two minutes later, Prakash Chalke, who effected the push for the team’s second set-piece drill, came back to convert a rebound.