Kalinga Lancers thrash Punjab 7-0 to enter semi-finals

A determined Kalinga Lancers qualified for the semi-finals of the Hockey India League (HIL) as they whipped past defending champions Jaypee Punjab Warriors 7-0 at the Hockey Stadium here on Saturday.

Needing only a draw in their final game to qualify for the semi-finals, the last year's runners up ran riot with goals from Adam Dixon (ninth minute), Moritz Furste (24th, penalty corner), Lalit Upadhyay (34th) and Dharamvir Singh (39th).

The win took second-placed Kalinga's points tally to 28 as they and Dabang Mumbai are the two teams who have reached the knock-outs to be held here.

Bottom-placed Punjab remained at the last spot with 17 points from eight matches.

Punjab got off to a disastrous start as they were behind by two goals in the early ninth minute when English midfielder Dixon made amends for a trapping mistake during a penalty corner execution as he gathered the ball and ran past couple of defenders on the right before slotting in from a tight angle.

The hosts earned three penalty corners in the first five minutes of the second quarter but none of them were trapped properly.

Kalinga, on the other hand, fired a grounder to the right through German talisman Furste, beating the outstretched right foot of Clemons to mark his seventh penalty corner goal and ninth of the campaign.

Kalinga made it 5-0 in the 34th minute as Billy Bakker played a square pass to the left where Upadhhay stood unmarked. The Indian hammered home at the near post.

Five minutes later, it was 7-0 and it seemed very easy as Punjab defence was out of place. Gurjinder Singh dribbled past two guarding defenders guarding the left post before passing to Malak Singh, who chipped from the baseline to the front of the goal. And only thing an unmarked Dharmvir did was to tap the ball in.