It is Punjab’s game to lose when it takes on Railways in the title clash of the fifth National men’s hockey championships at the Chandgiram Sports Complex here on Sunday.
Having justified its ‘favourite’ tag by steamrolling past every opposition with ease, Punjab is expected to continue in the same vein in the final. The only team to have won every game so far, Punjab has relied on its all-round superiority, exerting little effort in its campaign.
The defence of Gurjinder Singh and Baljinder Singh is solid and captain Gurbaj has often pulled back to shore it up further. Parvinder, Varun Kumar and Gurvinder Chandi have combined well upfront and the presence of Gurbaj all over the ground has pulled up the team both in performance and morale. The semifinal against Association of Indian Universities (AIU) was proof of the ease with which Punjab has dominated the opposition here. The players hardly broke sweat in their 5-0 win and this when the main strikers didn’t give their 100 per cent on field. That complacency would be the only concern for Punjab and avoiding it against Railways will be important for Gurbaj’s team. The opposition may not be big on names but it has the firepower to surprise Punjab if the latter takes its foot off the pedal. Railways has had a revival of sorts in the last one year. The defending champion won a handful of tournaments across the country against some of the big names on the domestic circuit and reached the finals in others. The team has some experience, five of its players have international exposure and, more than individual brilliance, it has relied on a combined effort to get to the final and it will be hoping to continue the same. The team’s strength has been its penalty corners and Amit Rohidas will look to bring his ‘A’ game to the final while Affan Yousuf, among the top-scorers here, and Malak Singh, both part of the national core group, will look to send a reminder about themselves to the selectors.
In the playoff for third place on Saturday, Odisha beat AIU 4-0. Clearly the better team and with more structure in its game, Odisha was slow off the block while AIU pushed hard and aggressively early on. But the lack of cohesion meant it was restricted to the occasional individual attempt to get the goal which never materialised.
Odisha, on the other hand, built up with precision, opening up both flanks continuously and taking time to settle its midfield. The first two quarters were used to seize the opposition and once that was done, the team simply swamped AIU. Kunjan Topno opened the scoring, lifting the ball gently above three defenders and the goalkeeper into the roof of the goal in the 35th minute, and Dipsan Tirkey made it 2-0, slotting in a rebound after his first shot was blocked by the AIU goalkeeper.
Suddenly, it seemed there were far more Odisha players around than the opposition. AIU brought back some urgency in its game in the final quarter and earned a couple of penalty corners but there was no plan. Odisha got two more to round off its tally and stamp its dominance.
The results (third place play-off): Odisha 4 (Kunjan Topno 2, Disan Tirkey, Nilam Sanjeeb Xess) bt AIU 0.
