Once again, UP hockey women’s in junior nationals semi-finals
LUCKNOW: For the second successive time, Uttar Pradesh Hockey on Thursday booked their berth in the semi-finals of the 9th Hockey India Junior Women National Hockey Championship 2019 (A Division), blanking out Hockey Maharashtra 3-0 at Kollam (Kerala).
Now on Saturday, UP Hockey play against Hockey Jharkhand, which defeated Hockey Chandigarh 5-4 in the first semi-final, whereas Hockey Haryana will be up against Hockey Mizoram in the second semi-final.
Last year Uttar Pradesh Hockey had lost in the semi-finals too. On Thursday, they lived up to the expectations in the second quarterfinal as they scored a goal each in the last three quarters. Energetic Anuradha Pal once again showed her might in style, sounding the board with a flick in the 28th minute (1-0). UP girls had to wait long even then as Maharashtra posed a good challenge to UP girls. However, one goal each by Archana Bhardwaj in the 45th and Sapna Devi in the 58th minutes, respectively made things easy for Uttar Pradesh.
Earlier, the match between Hockey Jharkhand and Hockey Chandigarh turned out to be a thriller. Winners took a two-goal lead inside six minutes, but Hockey Chandigarh made a comeback to overturn the lead by scoring three goals after 38 minutes.
However, Hockey Jharkhand made full use of the chances in the last quarter to win the match 5-4. Albela Toppo (3’, 6’), Priya Dungdung (39’), Beauty Dungdung (52’) and Captain Reshma Soreng (55’) scored for the winners, while Kavita (28’, 43’), Monu (12’) and Rakhi (38’) netted for Hockey Chandigarh.
The third quarter-final saw Hockey Haryana produce a determined performance against Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy to win by 2-1. It was Hockey Haryana, who took the lead in the eighth minute through Anu, Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy’s Sadhna Sengar equalized for her team in the 30th minute. Just after a change in the ends, Haryana’s captain Amandeep Kaur struck the match winner in the 34th minute. The last quarter-final between Hockey Mizoram and Hockey Odisha saw the former register a convincing 3-0 victory to secure their berth in the semifinals. Hockey Mizoram scored their first goal in the 30th minute through Lalrinfeli and had to defend well as Hockey Odisha looked for the equalizer.
It was only in the 58th minute that Hockey Mizoram finally managed to score their second as Lalneihpuii scored a field-goal. The last minute of the match saw Hockey Mizoram score their third goal as Marina Lalramnghaki scored through a penalty corner to win the match for her team 3-0.
SEMI-FINALS February 9:
Hockey Jharkhand v Uttar Pradesh Hockey (7.30 a.m.); Hockey Haryana v Hockey Mizoram (3.00 p.m).