March 5, 2008 India Rip Mexico 18-1
to Maintain Clean Record
Santiago
Indian forwards ran circles around the Mexicans and whipped them
18-1 in the most one-sided game of the World Hockey Olympic
Qualifiers so far. India, who led 8-0 at half time, also moved ahead
of Great Britain in goal averages.
In the other matches Great Britain also secured their third win
beating Chile 4-0, while Austria beat Russia 5-4 in a tight match.
However with the top two teams in the league slated to play the
final, it is most likely that India will clash with Great Britain
for the lone Olympic berth available from the tournament.
India and Great Britain are, as expected, at the top of the points
table, followed by Austria and Chile, while Russia and Mexico are
still chasing their first point.
India's goal-glut was led by forwards Rajpal Singh (5) and Prabhjot
Singh (4), while V.R.Raghunath (5) scored four goals through drag
flicks and one was a field goal.
The other scorers for India were Shivendra Singh (2), Tushar
Khandekar (1) and Sardara Singh (1). Pol Moreno was the lone scorer
for Mexico as the Indians seemed to take their foot off the
accelerator in the last minutes.
Surprisingly, the Mexicans were the first to go on the offensive.
The earned three penalty-corners in a row, but despite good
executions, they were unable to convert them.
It was almost 10 minutes before India opened the scoring. But once
they, through Prabhjot Singh in the ninth minute, Rajpal followed
two minutes later.
Thereafter the floodgates opened as the Indians scored at ease, with
their individual skills and collective speed being overwhelming.
Shivendra Singh and Tushar Khandekar followed up with one goal each
as the Indians raced to 4-0 by the 19th minutes. Rajpal got his
second goal in 21st, before Shivendra and V.R.Raghunath added more.
Rajpal completed his hat-trick in the 30th minute as India closed
the first session at 8-0.
The second session was almost entirely played in the Mexican half.
Rajpal raised his tally to five, as did Raghunath, who struck four
times in second half and also did the duty of drag-flick specialist.
Prabhjot, who scored twice in first half added two more.
The Mexicans were finally rewarded with their first goal in the
competition in the very last minute of play through Pol Moreno
Quiroz.
Great Britain clashed with Chile in front of a large home crowd.
Great Britain had six penalty-corners in the first 20 minutes, but
could not score of them.
With tempers flaring, Sebastian Kapsch received a yellow card and
Chile were reduced to ten players.
Great Britain was playing with more poise, while Chile were showing
signs of nervousness as the game progressed and they were pushed
back time after time by the well organized British defense.
Simon Mantell had a great chance in the last minute of the first
half but he was thwarted and the score at the interval was 0-0.
Richard Mantell got the breakthrough in the 42nd minute but hardly
the commotion died down when Esteban Krainz made it 1-1 for Chile
much to the delight of the home crowd.
Great Britain regained the lead a few minutes later, Barry Middleton
finished in style following a good run by Jonty Clarke. The margin
in increased as James Tindall made it 3-1 after a clever set-up by
Simon Mantell who faked a shot to force the goalkeeper to commit
then managed to slide the ball to his partner in front of the empty
goal. Tindall scored his second goal of the night in the 66th
minute, again with the help of Middleton.
Austria and Russia, who clash with each other more often in indoor
hockey, were engaged in a close match. It was the Russians who led
first and kept the lead at 2-1 at half time.
Austria were more dominant in the second half, using quick short
passes to keep control of the ball, while Russia were using long
balls that were easily intercepted. Austria wasted a few
opportunities, including a number of penalty-corners and a ball that
rolled on the line without anybody able to push it in goal. They
finally came back level in the 49th minute, when Georg Jelink
finished a superb run by Peter Proksch.
Dmitry Azarov gave Russia back the lead through a penalty-corner and
then Proksch tied the score once more with a field goal. Austria's
domination was finally rewarded in the 59th minute, when Michael
Korper scored with a penalty-corner, his second of the day, giving
the lead to his team for the first time of the game.
Soon after, Proksch, scored the winning goal to seal the fate of the
Russian team to make it 5-3. Alexander Korolev did get a goal to
make it 4-5, but then time ran out.
The Qualifier continues on Thursday in Santiago with the much
anticipated game between India and Great Britain, then Austria take
on Mexico, and Russia conclude the day against host Chile.
Austria beat Russia 5-4 (HT - 1-2)
Scorers:
Austria: Michael Körper (28th), Georg Jelinek (49th), Peter Proksch
(53rd, 65th), Michael Körper (59th)
Russia: Dmitry Azarov (23rd, 52nd), Alexey Mamoshkin (25th),
Alexander Korolev (67th)
Chile lost to Great Britain 1:4 (HT - 0-0)
Scorers:
Great Britain: Richard Mantell (42nd), Barry Middleton (50th), James
Tindall (56th and 66th)
Chile: Esteban Krainz (43rd)
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