Maharashtra book semi-final berth: Nat. Games hockey

Former champions Maharashtra booked a semi-final berth, after drawing with hosts Andhra Pradesh 1-1 a Group 'B' league match, in the men's hockey tournament at the 32nd National Games on Monday.

 At the Begumpet stadium in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, playing with four borrowed 'stars;, took the lead in the third minute through veteran Mukesh Kumar, who scored from a set-play cross from Sameer Dad.

However, Maharashtra, who saw more of the ball throughout the match, soon found the equaliser in the 23rd minute, with Dhanraj Pillay finding the mark in his usual inimitable style.

The mercurial Pillay's decision to play total hockey did not pay much dividends as Andhra goalkeeper Edward Alloysious stood like the Rock of Gibraltar against a wave of attacks from Maharashtra.

Maharashtra, who completed their league engagements -- they won against Karnataka and Bengal -- have seven points from three matches, while Andhra tallied four from two matches.

Bengal are virtually out of the tournament, having lost both their matches.

Karnataka are yet to play Andhra and Bengal.

Meanwhile, violence marred the drawn match in the morning between Tamil Nadu and Chandigarh.

Goals from international L Prabhakar, in the 20th minute, and Gurpreet Singh, in the 30th, for Tamil Nadu and
Chandigarh respectively, had the match level at 1-1, till all hell broke loose when umpire H S Sokhi denied the latter a penalty-corner in the dying minutes of the game.

Sokhi had already awarded Chandigarh a corner by the end of regulation time. But after their failed attempt, the Chandigarh players demanded another corner, claiming a foul by Tamil Nadu goalkeeper Somasundaram.

However, Sokhi turned down their appeal and in the melee that ensued, the Chandigarh players and the team manager Ashwinder Singh heckled and pushed Sokhi around.

Another controversy broke at the Games' hockey tournament, with Karnataka team manager T Shanmugam lodging a protest against hosts Andhra Pradesh fielding four 'borrowed' players in their team. The Tournament Conduct Committee is expected to announce its decision before Karnataka's match against Andhra on December 18.