Hockey Nationals: Tamil Nadu enter quarters

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After turning out with a star-studded ‘imported’ team in the previous edition of the championship, runners-up Karnataka pinned their faith in local talent and pulled off a convincing 5-0 win over Himachal Pradesh in their opening encounter of the 2nd Hockey India men’s seniors nationals, here on Tuesday.

The hosts, who had availed the services of seasoned players like Prabhjot Singh and Deepak Thakur last year at the Bhopal nationals, put up a clinical performance with their home-grown talent.

Karnataka drew early blood when Olympian S.K. Uthappa latched on to a right flank pass from Pundalik Bellary to send a rasping shot past Himachal goalkeeper Munish Kumar.

The HP lads made some bold forays into the rival goal area, only to fumble with their striking.
Karnataka on the other hand, fetched penalty corners at will, but their skipper and drag-flicker V.R. Raghunath was way off the mark on the day.

A minute before the lemon break, Karnataka struck again. Raghunath shot straight into Munish’s pads, but Nitin Thimmaiah showed quick reflexes and pounced on the rebound to slam in the second goal.

The change of ends infused more energy into the hosts’ challenge and Raghunath made amends to put the team up 3-0. Mohan Muthana and M.B. Aiyappa completed the rout.

TN, AI enter QF

An in-form Rupinderpal Singh continued to haunt the opponents as Tamil Nadu thrashed Kerala 16-1. Rupinder struck five times as TN qualified for the quarters from Group G edging out Odisha on goal-difference. Services and Air India also made merry with huge wins and the latter also stormed into the last eight from Group E.

Results: Pool A: Haryana 3 bt Puducherry 1; Maharashtra 3 bt Bengal 1; Pool B: Karnataka 5 bt Himachal Pradesh 0; Andhra Pradesh 5 bt Delhi 2

Pool C: Services 16 bt Chhattisgarh 0; Pool D: Uttarakhand 3 bt Goa 0; Chandigarh 5 bt Sashastra Seema Bal 1; Pool E: Air India 16 bt Nagaland 0; Madhya Pradesh HA 11 bt Rajasthan 0
Pool G: Tamil Nadu 16 bt Kerala 1; Odisha 20 bt Gujarat 0