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Controversy eats the soul of contest

Abahani, IA split points

Sports Reporter
Unsavoury tantrum emerged as the enduring impression in yesterday's billing of the Invitational In-
ternational hockey tournament as Indian Airlines and Abahani Krira Chakra played out a two al) draw at the Hockey Stadium.
Although neither side produced hockey befitting a fairly large expectant holiday crowd, points were duly shared and at the end of the day it seemed justice was done to two teams apparently more committed to the cause of tantrum than exciting, quality hockey.
In a game marked by the presence of more Indians than Bangladeshis! due to the presence of two players in the Abahani ranks from across the border) Indian national forward Dhanraj Pillai struck both the goals for the popular local heavyweights while his compatriots Shakeel Ahmed and Mukesh Kumar scored one goal apiece for the visitors who led the first half 1-0.
Abahani came back strongly to force ahead through Pillai s’brilliance but failed to hold on to their 2-1 lead in the face of an all out Airline assault late into the second half as Mukesh Kumar, pulled back the equaliser.
Abahani. who trounced Sri Lankan Army 6-0 on Thursday, played some poor hockey and without Pillai would have been in real trouble. Even then, yesterday's result considerably dented hopes of a berth in the final for the. sky blues who have two tough matches on hand against PIA and arch-rivals Mohammedan Sporting Club respectively.
Once again Abahani were apparently handicapped by the lack of understanding. The Indian duo of Dhanraj and Reaz were yet to develop understanding with their local peers and the match for the larger part of the first half lay like a load on the weary eye for that.
On the other hand, the Indian national flag carriers who lost their first match to PIA 1-3 only about 24 hours ago. played cautiously against the home side in the first session and rather fortuitously took the
lead when umpire Abdur Raz zaque signaled a penalty in their favour as the Abahani custodian Rahmat Ali was deemed to have had the bail stopped under his legs in a melee resulting from an LA sortie in the 27th minute.
Tension mounted among the Abahani players arid the spectators in the galleries over the decision and the proceedings remained suspended for about two minutes. Finally good sense and once the match resumed, defender Shakeel Ahmed converted the penalty for the Indian Airliners pushing it straight into the right top corner of the net(l-O).
After the breather. Dhanraj Pillai, the mercurial Indian marksman, showed some of the skills that have distinguished him as a vital member of the Indian national team . He helped the sky blues to an advantageous position with two magnificent field goals in the space of 15 minutes.
It was a move from the right side which originated the first goal for Abahani in the 37th minute. Mahbub Haroon, the former national skipper, sent an accurate cross to Pillai whp after a quick one two with winger ■ icamizv sounded J thL— board from close range (1-1).
Spurred by the goal/ Aba- • hani maintained their domination over the Indians with Haroon and Indian centre half Mohammad Reaz in control of the midfield.
In the 53rd minute, Abahani went ahead with the almost unstoppable Pillai sounding the board cashing in on a rebounder from a penalty corner (2-1). The goal again opened the pandorai s box as the unconvinced and angry Indian Airline players surrounded the umpire urging him to cancel the goal for they thought Pillai's stick was poised at too great a height at the time of contact for a legitimate goal. But the umpire remained silent signaling a goal in Abahaniis favour .
The visitors, not convinced by the umpire’s decision, were almost set to leave the ground in protest of the decision but due to timely intervention by the Indian officials who promptly sent back the players, the match was saved from
ending in a total fiasco.
After the resumption for yet another unwanted break for six minutes, the Indians retaliated quickly and drew level in the 62nd minute through Indian national winger Mukesh Kumar who flicked the ball home from a Harindcr Singh freehit from the left side (2-2).
With the draw, Abahani raised their tally to four points from two matches, two points adrift of leaders PIA who have six points in their account at the completion of their two outings. On the other hand. Indian Airlines earned their first point in the tournament from yesterday's engagement.
Meanwhile. Bangladesh Hockey Federation, the organiser of the tournament . has deferred tomorrow's important match between the two local powers Abahani and Mohammedan Sporting Club for a day as the two traditional arch-rivals will engage themselves in a crucial Premier Division cricket league match at the nearby Dhaka Stadium on the same day . According to a revised fixture, the match will now be held on January 19 at 2:30 pm. Due to this change in fixture, tht rnaitc'h between Abahani and PIA which was scheduled for January 19. will
and AltalUr Rahman (Indian Airlines)
TEAMS
ABAHANI KC: Rahmat All. Rabi. Mamunur Rashid. Ishtiaq Ahmed. Khurshid Alam. Riaz Ahmed. Alamgir Alam. Dhanraj Pillai. Ramizuddin. Mahbub Haroon and Tutul Kumar Nag.
INDIAN AIRLINES. Subba-iah. Dilip Tirkey. Mishra. Sha-keel Ahmed. Ravinder Singh. Mukesh Kumar. Rawat. Altaf-ur-Rahman, Atif Idris. Sameer. Arif and Harinder Singh.
Referee: Abdur Razzaque (Bangladesh) and Kamal Khan (Pakistan).