Shaking off the lethargy they displayed early in the tournament, IHF Juniors outplayed Tamil Nadu XI 4-1 to enter the semi-finals in the 81st All India MCC Murugappa hockey tournament in Chennai on Tuesday.
Also making it to the semi-finals, though in contrasting fashion, was Air India, who beat Bhopal XI by a solitary goal, scored by Surinder Kundu in the second minute following a penalty-corner.
IHF Juniors, who lived upto the star status in the absence of the seniors, took control of the match right from the beginning. They scored two quick goals in the eighth and 12th minutes through Hari Prasad and Arumugam, off a penalty-corner, respectively.
Tamil Nadu did not give up and managed to reduce the lead in the 18th minute when S Karthik, running down the left flank, beat the IHF defence and scored.
But IHF Juniors struck again in the 31st minute, when Raju deflected in a pass from captain Vivek Gupta to take a 3-1 lead at the breather.
In the second-half, Tamil Nadu's cup of woes were full when, in the 45th minute, Raju struck again to make it 4-1, combining with Vivek. The captain, who essayed almost every move for the IHF, was declared man of the match.
Tamil Nadu's pathetic display reflected the fact that they failed to convert as many as ten penalty-corners.