Hockey: AI, TN in quarters; Karnataka win

Karnataka opened their campaign in the second Hockey India Senior National Men’s Championship with an easy 5-0 victory over Himachal Pradesh even as Air India, with three wins in three matches, booked a quarterfinal berth. Tamil Nadu have also entered the last eight.

Haryana have inched closer to the quarterfinal after their win over Pondicherry on Tuesday.

Services and Orissa did not have any trouble either while Maharashtra downed Bengal 3-1.

Playing their first match, Karnataka combined well and there was no hint of rustiness. HP had their share of possession but not as much as Karnataka. HP came up with attacks but the rival defence was just too strong for them to get any goal. In one instance, HP’s Amit Lochab hit the ball in but it was disallowed as the ball had risen high.

Long before that, Karnataka opened the scoring in the fourth minute. Even with a crowded striking circle, International SK Uthappa slammed the ball in after receiving a pass from Pundalik Bellary, who was on the right flank. Nitin Thimmaiah doubled the score for Karnataka in the 34th minute when he collected the ball and scored after a failed penalty corner attempt.

However, there was no mistake in the next penalty corner attempt as Indian team drag-flicker VR Raghunath sent the ball into the net in the 40th minute to make it 3-0.

Karnataka’s fourth goal came off the counter-attack following the goal that was disallowed for HP. PL Thimmanna ran in with the ball on the left flank and passed it to Nikin Thimmaiah, who sent it across to the goalmouth. Mohan Muthanna was waiting there and it was a simple matter of placing the ball inside. MB Aiyappa rounded off the tally for with a 62nd minute strike.