Houdini act by Karnataka

<div class="section0"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="">HYDERABAD: Karnataka were in a bind going into their last league match against Bengal in the 61st Senior National Hockey Championships on Tuesday. They were trailing third in Pool H behind Bengal (six points) and Orissa, who had three points as the Southern team but were better on goal difference. So, Karnataka were in a must-win situation.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">Stunned by Jammu and Kashmir in their opening match, Karnataka recovered well to beat Orissa 2-1 in their next match. However, they were still in trouble as Bengal had won both their matches and only needed a draw to qualify for the next stage from the four-team group. Meanwhile, Orissa too jumped into the fray by thrashing Jammu and Kashmir 5-2 earlier on Tuesday.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">But Karnataka did a Houdini to book their place in the knock-out stage. Drag-flicker Len Aiyappa scored three to help them beat Bengal 6-2 at the Gachibowli Stadium. The icing on the cake was the top position they grabbed in the pool on goal difference after joining Bengal on six points. Bengal finished second in the pool.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="">In other matches, defending champions Indian Airlines rode on four goals including a hat-trick by left-out Brojen Singh to spank Bihar 11-1, Delhi prevailed over Mizoram 9-4, hosts Hyderabad swamped Himachal 5-0, Tamil Nadu outclassed Vidharbha 8-1 and Services, already through to next stage, took it easy in a 2-1 win over Manipur.</span><br /></div> </div>