Border Security Force, Delhi enter quarters

NEW DELHI, June 23: Defending champions Delhi completed their league formalities with another thumping 13-0 win against the lowly Tripura t...

NEW DELHI, June 23: Defending champions Delhi completed their league formalities with another thumping 13-0 win against the lowly Tripura to enter the quarter-finals of the 29th Junior National hockey championship today. Joining them were Border Security Force, BSF, who too have topped the pool with 12 points, to enter the last-eight stage with a hard-fought 3-0 win over Chandigarh. The hosts will now clash with Bhopal in the first quarter-finals to be played on Friday.

The never-say-die Services boys, after having lost to Orissa, bounced back into the championship with a thrilling 3-2 win over Air-India in their Group H match. In the other pool matches, Andhra Pradesh defeated Maharashtra 5-0, Bengal thrashed Mizoram 11-0 and Tamil Nadu beat Rajasthan 8-1.

Aggressive hockey with perfect gameplan and brilliant stickwork was a treat for the specators today. Services drew first blood with a fourth-minute goal by captain Jerom Kujur. Lalit Indiwar8217;s timely pass saw Kujur banging the target for the first goal in the fourth minute jolting Air India8217;s confidence initially.

But soon, Air-India increased the pace of their game. An unmarked Anup Tirkey fired the equaliser for Air-India in the 13th minute that brought a sigh of relief in their camp. A goal-hungry Gagan Ajit Singh, son of former Olympian Ajit Singh, put Air-India atop immediately after the break. Gagan dribbled past brilliantly beating three defenders in a row to score the second goal for his side in the 40th minute.

Services came up with some well planned moves which forced Air-India to crowd their goal in panic. They earned a much needed penalty corner in the 47th minute which was ably converted by defender John Minz that pulled them a level.

Tight marking by both teams meant no goals for quite a long time, and, the match appeared to be heading for a draw when the captain suddenly did the trick again. After fetching the ball, Kujur dribbled past alone to beat the goalkeeper to score the winner in the 66th minute.

RESULTS

Services bt Air-India 3-2

Bengal bt Mizoram 11-0

BSF bt Chandigarh 3-0

AP bt Maharashtra 5-0

Delhi bt Tripura 13-0

TN bt Rajasthan 8-1