Aiyappa powers AI home

Having earned a last-minute penalty corner and the sound of the hooter already gone, the ace drag-flicker kept his composure amidst heavy tension, rifling home a powerful shot to trigger wild eruptions in a nervous Air India camp at the KSHA stadium.

The victory lifted unbeaten Air India to second place with 21 points from seven matches while Indian Oil Corporation, who beat Army Red 5-3 in the evening, stay at pole with 24 points from eight matches.

Namdhari, who began the feisty encounter in bright fashion, will have only themselves to blame for suffering a late self destruction that eventually cost them a point at least. Striker Malak Singh set the tempo for an early Namdhari onslaught when he dribbled past VS Vinay on the right with sudden burst of pace before slamming it past goalkeeper Air India custodian Adrian D’Souza for the opening goal in the seventh minute.

Wiith their tails and confidence up, Namdhari controlled the pace of the match brilliantly. They attacked and defended in numbers, creating continuous chances with their spirited runs and thwarting most of Air India’s raids yards ahead of the striking circle.

Aiyappa, however, brought Air India back with a 25th minute equaliser before Harpreet Singh restored the lead for Namdhari XI in the 37th minute. Post the goal, Namdhari slipped into the defensive before violant tackles from Harpreet (67th) and Harmeet Singh (68th) left them two men short in the dying moments. Air India gleefully capitalised, scripting a terrific come-from-behind win.

Results: SAI: 4 (Nikkin Thimmaiah 2nd, Naveen 28th, Pradhan Somanna 64th, Uthappa SK 69th) bt ASC: 2 (Sarajan Tutti 60th); Air India: 3 (Len Aiyappa 25th, 61st, 70th) bt Namdhari XI: 2 (Malak Singh 7th, Harpreet Singh 37th); IOCL: 5 (Hamza Mujtaba 16th, VR Raghunath 24th, 62nd, Deepak Thakur 41st, 42nd) bt Army Red: 3 (Ignace Tirkey 6th, Rajesh Lakra 55th, S Ali 69th).
Karntaka State Women’s Hockey Association League
Hassan HC: 3 (Rangitha N 15th, 19th, Spurthi 32nd) bt MCC: 0; SAI, Madikeri: 9 (Bhavya 4th, 6th, 17th, Nichitha MJ 5th, 29th, 32nd, Yashasvini 16th, 37th, Bhavya BC 21st) bt Naveen HC: 0; Bishop Cotton Girls HS: 3 (Nikitha B Kumar 16th, Disha Sharma 25th, Ruchitha 27th) bt Belgaum XI: 1 (Devkita Sildar 23rd); Sports Hostel, Kudige: 8 (Supriya 4th, Vidyalakshmi 8th, Jyothi NP 13th, 17th, 24th, Veena 25th, Ramya N 22nd, 27th) bt Zenith Club: 0.