Jugraj 'scoops' IHF Juniors to big win

By Our Sports Reporter

BANGALORE, APRIL 7. Tamil Nadu and IHF Juniors got eight penalty corners apiece. While the junior crop harvested five, Tamil Nadu drew a blank. And Jugraj Singh's scoops lent the decisive edge as IHF Juniors defeated Tamil Nadu 7-1 in a U and I Champions Trophy hockey tournament Pool B match at the KSHA Stadium here on Saturday.

The day's second match played true to form as Indian Airlines blanked CRPF 5-0 in a Pool A encounter. The early dent was caused by the Mukesh Kumar-Dhanraj Pillay duo. Their deft run in the ninth minute yielded a pass to Samir Dad who scored the first of his three goals. Airlines continued to soar as penalty corners helped Dhanraj Pillay and Rajnish Mishra strike in the 38th and 53rd minutes. Samir Dad again swung into focus as a penalty corner in the 56th minute and a stroke in the 69th minute helped Airlines close the match on a high.

Earlier, the Pool B fixture was expected to favour Tamil Nadu and it did in the first 10 minutes. Skipper Prabhakaran's dribble down the extreme right prised open the IHF Juniors' defence and a centre pass left Cedric D'Cruz with enough leeway to draw first blood. The junior team struck back with a Prabjot Singh move eliciting a second penalty corner. It was time for Jugraj Singh to display his wares. And he did with a sliding scoop that left the rival citadel stunned in the 20th minute. He repeated the act in the 28th minute and IHF Juniors had wrested the initiative.

The lead got augmented when a stinger from Bipin Thimmaiah ricocheted off Tamil Nadu's Karuppiah's legs in front of the goal. Umpire Satinder Sharma awarded a stroke and Prabjot Singh scored to leave IHF Juniors at a comfortable 3-1 perch at the break.

Jugraj Singh continued to shadow Tamil Nadu's fortunes in the second-half. And in the 36th minute, a penalty corner helped him unleash that patented drag-scoop to the delight of his teammates. Tamil Nadu's efforts of a comeback remained futile as Thirumalvalavan and Prabhakaran were straffed for passes. And with Radha Krishnan failing to pep up the defence, Tamil Nadu's morale was sagging.

IHF Juniors continued to make merry with Deepak Thakur hammering in a Inderjeet Chadha nudge in a 46th minute penalty corner. The party continued as a penalty corner in the 49th minute, brought in IHF Juniors' sixth goal. Jugraj deftly side- stepped Deepak Thakur's push and Inderjeet Chadha did the rest with a blinder which thudded into the boards. The final cut was unleashed when a Vijay Alphones' reverse-hit left goalkeeper Natarajan in despair in the dying minutes.

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