Bangalore, May 21: Roving forward Laxman Rao scored a career-best nine goals, including a hattrick in each session, to take hosts Karnataka in the quarterfinals of the Punjab and Sind Bank 58th Senior National Hockey championship at the Sports Authority of India south centre here on Wednesday.

Karnataka toyed with Assam slamming 19 goals without reply, in a lop-sided Group D match. In the quarterfinals they will meet the winners of Group B, where Air India and Punjab are expected to fight it out for the top slot.

Earlier, in Pool B, debutants Air-India, led by Anil Aldrin, began their campaign with a thumping 13-0 win over Madhya Pradesh while in another inconsequential Group D encounter, Steel Authority of India Limited brushed aside Rajasthan 7-2.

For Karnataka, the last league encounter today proved just a practice match and coach Ramesh Parameswaran fielded the second goalie Khalid Modi besides trying out some of his plans. However, it is doubtful if Karnataka had gained anything useful from this match. The hosts failed to click as a combination as far as the conversion of penalty corners were concerned. In the first session they were awarded five penalty corners but converted only one through Rama Rao. In the second session too, they failed to execute the plan but Laxman Rao managed to sound the boards from the second short corner, off a rebound, in the 51st minute which gave him the second hattrick. His first two goals came from penalty strokes.

Earlier in the first half, he scored in the 26th, 31st and 32nd minutes for his first hattrick. He also began the shootout in the very first minute. In all he helped himself with nine goals and was visibly excited, this being his first Nationals. Others to list themselves in the scoreboook are Anandavelu (3), Eliazer Ekka, Samson Fernandez and Cyprian Aind (two each) and Rama Rao.

The scorers for Air-India in their 13-0 victory over Madhya Pradesh are Devinder Kumar, Edward Aranha, Kishore Kumar, Rajesh Chauhan, Alex D'Souza (two each), and Surinder Singh, Anil Aldrin and Edgar Mascarenhas.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.