Karnataka State Police posted a facile 4-1 win over Indian Telephone Industry to enter the semifinals of the Travancore Cup hockey tournament here on Wednesday.
In the semifinals, KSP will take on Canara Bank, who edged past Army Service Corps 3-2 in the other quarterfinal tie.
Last year’s runners-up KSP opened their account in the 14th minute through Shivkumar, who sounded the board off his team’s first penalty corner. Nine minutes later, KSP made it two out of two when Roshan converted their second penalty corner.
Though KSP made numerous raids to the opposition ‘D’, they found ITI custodian Astha Kumar -- the veteran of many a battle -- a tough nut to crack as he made some brilliant saves. However, with the team comprising plenty of old players -- most of them past their prime -- the Telephonesmen proved a cropper when it came to quick retrievals and counterattacks. On the other hand, the Policemen excelled with their speedy runs down the flanks.
Veteran brigade
After the lemon break, KSP relaxed a bit, allowing ITI to pull one back. Rajendra Kumar, yet another of the veteran brigade, sounded the board in the 45th minute to bring some relief to the Telephonesmen. However, their joy was shortlived as three minutes later, KSP again took a two-goal lead through Rajsekhar, who scored off a rebound. Though Umesh Mutegar got a chance to increase the lead in the very next minute, Astha Kumar thwarted his attempt with a one-handed save.
However, in the 50th minute, Mutegar did find the target, connecting Chetan’s long relay to pile on the agony for ITI.
Earlier, Deepu’s brace (4th, 22nd) went in vain as ASC went down fighting to Canara Bank, for whom Appana (6th), Somanna (33rd) and Ronald Kiran (60th) scored a goal apiece.