Tamil Nadu scripts a 43-0 victory over Andaman & Nicobar, enters quarterfinals

Tamil Nadu's 43-0 win raises questions on tournament format, with multiple one-sided matches sparking discussion.

It was not a good advertisement for the sport, certainly. Tamil Nadu’s massive 43-0 win over an ultra-weak Andaman and Nicobar in a Poo-C tie of the 14th Hockey India senior National men’s hockey championship enabled the side enter the knock-outs (quarterfinals), while also raising lot of questions on the need to have a relook at the format of the tournament.

The number of one-sided matches -- Maharashtra thumping Gujarat 30-0, Manipur thrashing Bihar 19-1, Madhya Pradesh blanking Andaman and Nicobar 29-0 and a host of others - definitely warrant a discussion.

After Madhya Pradesh crushed Andhra Pradesh 17-0 in a Pool-C contest, Tamil Nadu, which next took on Andaman and Nicobar, was presented with a clear target, win by a margin of 40 goals to enter the last eight and prevent MP from doing so.

The results: Pool-B: Mizoram 2 (Stalin Abilash 46, 49) bt Telangana 1 (Venkatesh Telugu 18).

C: Madhya Pradesh 17 (Yousuf Affan 10, 30, Shreyas Dhupe 13, 22, 29, 36, 41, Armaan Qureshi 17, Sushil Dhanwar 18, 51, Mohd. Umar 27, Mohd. Zaid Khan 30, 46, Mohd. Nizamuddin 33, Sourabh Pashine 38, 53, 57) bt Andhra Pradesh 0.

Tamil Nadu 43 (S. Karthi 1, 2, 8, 19, 21, 25, 32, 37, 38, 43, 48, 56, B. P. Somanna 3, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 51, 53, Sundarapandi 4, 9, 22, 25, 27, 30, 35, 49, 60, G. M. Pruthvi 7, 32, 41, S. Mareeswaran 14, 24, 28, 29, 37, 54, K. Selvaraj 34, 45, H. Shyam Kumar 58) bt A&N 0.

D: Chandigarh 9 (Sumit 7, 8, Paramvir Singh 12, 15, Amandeep Singh 18, 26, Surinder Singh 35, Mohit 37, Manjinder Singh 59) bt Uttarakhand 0.