New Delhi, June 18: Fancied Haryana boys must be thanking their stars for avoiding a humiliating defeat against debutant Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), Rourkela, on the opening day of the the 29th Junior National Hockey championship here today.

Trailing 0-2, SAIL boys roared back to level scores and then took a 3-2 lead, only to miss a golden opportunity to topple last year's runners-up. Haryna banked on their experience to wrest a 3-3 draw and avoid ignominy.

On the other hand, the opening day was a cool affair for most of the other big teams. Host and defending champions Delhi embarked on a scoring spree against minnows Assam, winning 21-0. Indian Airlines player Virender boosted the Delhi side with eight goals, including a hat-trick. Deepak and Surender Paul added three goals each.

The story was no different in other pools as 91 goals were scored in eight matches. Bhopal thrashed Nagaland 20-1, Madhya Bharat defeated Hyderabad 3-2, Chandigarh beat Manipur 7-0, Patiala routed Kerala 11-0 and Punjab defeated Vidarbha 16-0.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.