Karnataka oust AP in Nat. Games men's hockey

In a match that was keenly looked forward to more for controversial reasons, Karnataka scored in the dying moments of the game to shut out hosts Andhra Pradesh 3-2 and storm into the semi-finals in the men's hockey competition at the 32nd National Games in Hyderabad on Wednesday.

There was a lot of suspense before the match as Karnataka had kicked up a row over Andhra Pradesh fielding four "imported" players. But with the victory, Karnataka also allowed the controversy of Andhra playing four outstation players -- Rajneesh Mishra, Dilip Tirkey, Bimal Lakra and Sameer Dad -- die a natural death as the hosts bowed out of the tournament.

A decision on Karnataka's protest was to be taken by the Games Technical Conduct Committee (GTCC) tonight. However, with the exit of Andhra the issue remains closed.

It was Ronald Kiran's goal in the last-minute, from a penalty-corner conversion, that enabled Karnataka to advance.

The Andhra-Karnataka match started with the hosts on the attack, but slowly Karnataka found their feet and went ahead in the 25th minute, when Arun Rawat moved to the top of the circle from the left and took a weak shot. Goalkeeper Edward Alloysious thrust out his pads, but the ball trickled inside the goal.

Five minutes later, Arjun Halappa converted from Karnataka's fourth penalty-corner, with a shot to the left of the goalkeeper to make the score 2-0. Just when it looked like Karnataka would romp home easily, the Andhra players came up with renewed vigour in the second-half and reduced the margin in the 46th minute, with Bimal Lakra converting a penalty-corner.

A minute later Andhra restored parity through A R Kumar.

Having tasted success, Andhra then went for the kill and raided the rival citadel, but if Karnataka have to thank anybody for keeping Andhra from scoring another goal it has to be their goalkeeper Bharat Chetri, who brought off brilliant saves.

However, with Andhra needing just a draw to advance, Karnataka received a penalty-corner in the last minute of the match. Ronald Kiran sounded the boards with a rasping drive to give his team a famous victory and a place in the semi-finals.

In the other match Punjab closed the gates on Tamil Nadu, beating them 2-0 to top Pool A. Services were the other team to advance to the semis along with Maharashtra.

Punjab, with seven points topped Pool A and play Karnataka, runners-up in Pool B with the five points. Maharashtra finished on top in Pool B, while Services finished behind Punjab.

Punjab proved too strong for Tamil Nadu and easily advanced, scoring a goal in each half.

Punjab went ahead in the 14th minute through Gagan Ajit Singh and then consolidated their position in the 60th minute following a penalty-corner which was easily converted by India's penalty-corner specialist Jugraj Singh.

The semifinal line-up: Punjab vs Karnataka; Maharashtra vs Services.

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