Jr Men's Hockey Nationals: Haryana, UP, Odisha, Punjab advance into semis

Jalandhar, Aug 20 (IANS) Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, and Punjab won their respective quarterfinal clashes to seal their spots in the semifinals of the 15th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship, which was held here on Wednesday.

In the first quarterfinal of the day, Hockey Haryana defeated Hockey Karnataka in a close 3-2 match with Navraj Singh (6’), Sachin (22’), and Chirag (59’) scoring for Hockey Haryana, while Nitesh Sharma (28’) and Sampan Ganapathy B.P (43’) scored for Hockey Karnataka.

After heavy rain washed out the other matches on Tuesday, the second quarterfinal took place on Wednesday evening with Uttar Pradesh Hockey defeating Hockey Madhya Pradesh 2-1 to secure their place in the last-four stage. Satyam Pandey (34') and Akash Pal (47') scored a goal each for Uttar Pradesh Hockey, while the lone goal for Hockey Madhya Pradesh was scored by Harsh Phalswal (59') in the final minutes of the game.

In the third quarterfinal match, Hockey Association of Odisha defeated Manipur Hockey 9-0 with Karan Lakra (54’, 59’) scoring two goals and Bilkan Oram (4’), Ritik Lakra (25’), Yojin Minz (27’), Nitesh Minz (28’), Harun Minz (29’), Abhisek Topno (39’) and Deepak Pradhan (47’) scoring a goal each.

The final match of the day took place between Hockey Punjab and Hockey Jharkhand, with the host cementing their place in the semis with a 4-1 win. Japnit Singh (8’, 47’) scored two goals for Hockey Punjab, while captain Gursewak Singh (4’) and Jobanpreet Singh (57’) scored one goal each. The lone goal for Hockey Jharkhand was scored by Amrit Horo (59’).

Earlier on Monday, Hockey Association of Odisha, Manipur Hockey, and Hockey Jharkhand won their matches while Hockey Madhya Pradesh and Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu played out a draw to end the pool stage of the competition on a positive note.

Hockey Punjab, Hockey Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh Hockey, Hockey Jharkhand, Hockey Haryana, Manipur Hockey, Hockey Association of Odisha, and Hockey Karnataka thus became eight teams that qualified for the quarterfinals.

--IANS

bsk/