Angul storm into Nalco Cup semifinals

Defending champions Angul mauled Ganjam 6-0 to enter the semifinals of the State Hockey Championship for Nalco Cup at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack today. Playing their first match after a bye, Angul completely dominated the proceeding from the word go. Ignacious Topno, drag-flicker Deepak Kullu and Erinus Surin scored a brace each to hand Ganjam a heavy defeat. Meanwhile, Bikash Kujur struck thrice to power formidable Sundargarh to a thumping 7-0 win over Mayurbhanj in a pre-quarterfinal match of the day. The other four goals for the winners were executed by Amit Rohit Das, Alok Barla, Suresh Topno and Amulya Minz. Phulbani and Sambalpur also booked their places in the quarterfinals, defeating Kurda 2-0 and Bolangir 8-0 respectively. Gagarin Das scored both the goals for Phulbani. Emrik Minz was the architect of the Sambalpur win, sounding the board four times. His teammates Susil Tirkey scored twice, while Severan Barla and Ajit Tirkey contributed one goal each.