India tame Azerbaijan for title

Minutes into the scheduled time of start, there was a quiet yellow huddle in one corner.

Minutes into the scheduled time of start, there was a quiet yellow huddle in one corner. Almost oblivious to the stirrings in the crowd, courtesy actor Diya Mirza’s presence, and the officialese that rendered the start of the match almost secondary, the home team looked to be concentrating on their own language.

In a classic case of saving the best for the last, the Indian team then came up with its best display here on the day of the final, beating Azerbaijan 1-0 to claim the Four-Nation Lal Bahadur Shastri hockey tournament title.

Shivaji Stadium’s biggest crowd in five days chose the right day to come out in strength. Once the excitement at the unannounced arrival of the star had ebbed somewhat, the show in the centre lit up the fading evening light. Undoubtedly India’s best player at the five-day meet, Saba Anjum was again the midfield manager, combining well with skipper Mamta Kharab. In the 18th minute, an unmarked Saba in the area missed the easy chance to go one-up after Mamta’s deft pass from the right.

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Then, just a couple of minutes later, a foul on Saba was overlooked, with the Azerbaijan keeper clearly having pulled the Indian as she went after the free ball rolling into the scoring area.

Azerbaijan came up with a couple of penalty corners soon, but the half time advantage definitely leaned towards the hosts.

Yesterday’s league clash with the East Europeans had shown them the way, as the Indians seemed convinced that the best strategy of countering the physical aggression of the opposition was unabated attacks. The crowd came to its feet in the 52nd minute, as Saba missed not a blink in pushing a penalty corner deflection to grab the lead.

The next minute there was another great chance, after a Saba-Mamta one-two. But the real authority came through in the defence of the team, as players backed down well to cut off space. The two times that the ball got near the goal, keeper Dipika Murthy had her foot out at just the right time, and the threat was warded off as the seconds ticked away, leaving the Indian girls the honours for the delighted celebrations.