SAIL enter quarter-finals

Today, Bhopal, who topped the Group C with nine points, made it to the last-eight stage beating Patiala 3-0. And, Punjab’s 2-1 win over last year’s runners-up Haryana ensured a quarter-final berth for young SAIL, who beat Vidarbha 11-0 in the evening.

Tipped to be clear favourites in their group, Haryana disappointed with a poor show. On the other hand, Punjab — they had nothing to lose as their fate was already decided after SAIL’s win — were bent upon making things difficult for their neighbours.

The Haryana pride was dented with an early blow in the ninth minute. A defensive lapse that had left the goal unguarded gave Punjab’s Baldeep Singh the opportunity to bang the ball home off a pass from Inder Mohan Singh. Last year’s runners-up Haryana, had not even settled down by then and the goal came as a shock.

Thereafter, both teams searched out openings to score while maintaining a tight defense. Rajesh Kumar, Rajiv Panchal and Jitender Singh came up with few good moves but they lacked finishing. Haryana failed badly at penalty corners too — wasting all the seven they earned.

Late in the 64th minute, Punjab captain Daljeet Singh pounced upon a pass from Baljeet in the 64th minute to strike.

Haryana forwards, finally got one back in the 68th minute after having missed a penalty-corner a few seconds ago. Jaswed Singh’s goal raised Haryana’s hopes of drawing the tie, but time was not on their side.In contrast, SAIL had an easy outing today.

Results

Delhi bt HP 7-1

Chandigarh bt MB 5-2

Assam bt Tripura 2-0

Bhopal bt Patiala 3-0

Punjab bt Haryana 2-1

SAIL bt Vidarbha 11-0

Kerala bt Nagaland 5-1

Hyderabad bt Manipur 4-1

League Table

Group C

Team W L D GF GA Pts

Bhopal 3 0 0 38 0 9

Patiala 2 1 0 30 3 6

Kerala 1 2 0 5 27 3

Nagaland 0 3 0 1 44 0

Group D

Teams W L D GF GA Pts

SAIL 2 0 1 16 4 7

Punjab 2 1 0 20 3 6

Haryana 1 1 1 13 6 4

Vidarbha 0 3 0 1 36 0