BSF staves off a spirited T.N.

CALCUTTA, APRIL 10. Border Security Force (BSF), Jalandhar thwarted a spirited opposition from Tamil Nadu XI to win a tight group B match 1-0 in the Beighton Cup hockey quarterfinal league which got underway on Monday.

The other Jalandhar outfit in the same group, Army XI, had little trouble in getting the better of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), New Delhi, 2-0, while the only group A match saw fancied Indian Airlines harried by qualifier CISF, New Delhi before the former rallied to draw 1-1 via a late equaliser.

Making it a day of tight matches for the seeded teams, BSF found it hard to beat the defensive ploy of the Chennai men who were almost successful in their tactics before Narinder Singh converted a 57th minute penalty corner to win it for the Jalandhar team.

After playing a barren first session, which saw both the teams drawing level on misses the change of ends saw BSF increase its thrusts.

Playing too defensive in the second session proved costly for Tamil Nadu as it could not hold to the mounting pressure to conceede a late goal. Tamil Nadu had all the opportunities to level the score earning three penalty-corners in a span of four minutes almost immediately after the goal but could avail none of them as the attempts remained much below expectations.

The beginning did not prove auspicious for the Indian Airlines - seeded directly into the quarterfinals - as CISF came out with one of the quickest strikes, scoring in the opening minute through Irfan Ahmed who converted his team's first penalty corner. But Brojen Singh capped a move from the right to fetch the equaliser.

The experience of Army XI proved vital against an youthful CRPF outfit as the former won through two second session goals scored by Kamal Horo (42nd) and B. Bhengra (58th).

- Our Sports Reporter

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