Indian Oil oust Punjab XI from final race in 31st Surjit Singh Memorial Hockey Tournament

JALANDHAR Punjab XI players are being introduced by Indian Punjab Minister Sohan Singh Thandal

Jalandhar: Punjab XI (Pakistan) failed to move into the final of the ongoing 31^st Surjit Singh Memorial Hockey Tournament at the Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium here on Sunday.

In the crucial semi final the Indian Oil humbled them 4-2 amid excellent demonstration of coordination, passing and finishing. They played like a well-knit unit and maintained discipline in their ranks and forced the visitors to play with their pace. They never allowed them to speedup the game and beat a side which had at least five Olympians in their squad.

Punjab XI players miserably failed to play like a team. They appeared scattered in the middle. They lacked in coordination and placing. They faltered in passing and finishing which deprived them of scoring three certain goals. Tasawar Abbas and Tousiq were, however, exceptional in the field and they made many good moves but luck didn’t favour them. In the 21^st minute the trio of Tasawar, Tousiq and Shafqat Rasool launched an attack but Goal keeper Olympian Devish Chohan saved Tasawar’s hit. Another hit by Tasawar struck the iron bar of the goalpost which deprived the visitors of a certain goal in the 28^th minute. However, Tasawar saved three penalty corner hits in the D.

The home side exerted pressure soon after the match started and scored their first goal in the 6^th minute. Sunil Yadhav and Vikas Sharma made a move and crossed the center line where just near the 25 yards line Sharma gave a pass to well-positioned Deepak Thakar in the D who beautifully hit the board. In the 25^th minute Olympian Prabhjot Singh and Sunil made a well coordinated move and reached the D through their excellent dribbling where Prabhjot scored a beautiful goal. Punjab XI was rewarded a penalty stroke in the last minute (35^th min) of the first half match and Touseeq made no mistake to reduce the margin.

The home side scored two more goals to consolidate their position in the second half. The trio of Roshan, Inderjeet Singh and Prabhjot baffled the full backs and Deepak scored the third goal of his team in the 56^th minute. Punjab XI made a counter attack and Qyyum Dogar’s hard hit was beyond goalkeeper’s reach. The same trio again made a move which rewarded them of their fourth goal on a penalty corner through Sunil Yadev in the 60^th minute. G. S. Sanga and Varinder supervised the match.