rediff.com: India in sub-jr Asia Cup hockey final

Indian juniors eased their way into the final of the inaugural sub-junior Asia Cup hockey championship with a 9-0 bashing of Singapore in the semi-final clash in Singapore on Friday.

Skipper Prabodh Tirkey scored four goals while Tushar Khardekar helped himself with two as India put to rest the ambitious run of the hosts and earned a summit clash against Bangladesh.

Bangladesh, the subcontinent's emerging hockey nation, inflicted a humiliating 4-1 defeat on Malaysia in the other semi-final.

The 9-0 win still fell short of the sway India held throughout the match, earning 14 penalty-corners against just two by Singapore.

Tirkey extended his dream run, converting three penalty-corners, with Tushar (2), Somesh Kanta, Chinnappa and Navdeep Singh also scoring one goal each.

After India went ahead early on, instructions went from the bench to take things easy. But the marauding Indians kept Singapore goalkeeper busy and he had to plough a lonely furrow to make up for the shoddy work of the defence.

As the Singapore defence left huge gaps to invite disaster, Mohd Noh, a reliable stopper-back had the double task of checking the prodding Indian forwards.

India drew the first blood off the third penalty-corner when Tirkey sounded the boards in the 10th minute. Soon Saravana Kumar made a move, sprinting all the way to the right but narrowly failed to get his lunging stick to deflect Imtiaz Ahmed's cross that mesmerised Singapore's pack of novices.

Tirkey got into the act again 10 minutes later; his effort was similar to his first.

The floodgates opened when Somesh Kanta's reverse flick (24th minute) beat the hapless Nizzar, as not once could Singapore entertain any hope of entering the Indian 16-yard area.

Chinnappa, who was lurking near the goal mouth in the 48th minute, slotted in the fourth goal through a deflection.

The resigned looks on Singaporean faces was an invitation for the Indians to whet their appetite for goals.

Tirkey promptly utilised the opportunity, scoring a field goal before a long clearance from Tomba Singh acted as a catalyst for the hawk-eyed Tushar to score in the 63rd minute.

India's seventh goal came from the skipper in the 66th minute through a penalty-corner conversion. Tushar pumped one more two minutes from the time, Ravi Inder Kumar having scythed through the defence to set it on a platter.

Taking the cue from his teammates, Navdeep Singh got the width he was looking for and banged the ball in not long before the final hooter was sounded.

In the second semifinal, Bangladesh back-pedalled for most part and it was only a miracle that helped keep their citadel intact at the breather.

On changing ends, it was a blitzkreig of an attack from the Bangladesh youngsters which left the Malaysians shell shocked.


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