NEW DELHI, June 25: With most of the matches over, the field seems to be clear on the penultimate day of the league matches in the 29th Junior National Championship today.

Air-India appear to have emerged as leaders in Pool H owing to a better goal average, thanks to their 23-0 win over Maharashtra on Saturday. On Wednesday, they defeated Orissa 4-1 in a crucial encounter. Though Orissa are yet to play their last league match against Andhra tomorrow, they have the daunting task of scoring at least 26 goals to beat Air-India for the quarter-final berth.

Also through to quarters are Indian Railways from Pool E, who scored a hard fought 1-0 win against Karnataka.

From Pool G, Punjab and Sind Bank had no difficulty beating listless Bihar 6-1 and are almost among the last eight stage while in Pool F, the fight is still on between Tamil Nadu and Bengal. With today's 5-2 win against Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu have enhanced their chances.

In the other matches, Uttar Pradesh defeated Gujarat 8-3, Rajasthan earned a 4-1 win against Mizoram, Bombay thrashed Jammu and Kashmir 11-1 and Services beat Maharashtra 4-0.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.