Mixed day for hosts as women win, men lose
Two-time champions Karnataka in men and formidable Jharkhand women off to a fine start
LUCKNOW: Hosts Uttar Pradesh had a mixed day on the opening day of the 4th 5-a-side Senior National Hockey Championship at Kanpur on Sunday. Uttar Pradesh women beat spirited Hockey Maharashtra 3-2, but hosts men lost to Hockey Haryana 3-4 in their opening league matches.
Shreya Singh struck a brace, whereas Diki Lalrin scored one goal. For Maharashtra, Lalhulunamawii and captain H Lalruatfeli shared two goals between them. Mohd Saif, Raj Kumar Pal and Mohd Amir Khan struck for UP men, whereas Pradeep Mor, Manpreet, Jagwant Singh and Prabhjot Singh netted for Hockey Haryana
Defending championships in the women’s section, Hockey Jharkhand crushed Hockey Odisha 7-3, wherein the men’s section two-time champions Karnataka notched up a thrilling 5-4 win against Hockey Punjab earlier in the day.
Playing before a sizable number of home crowd at the newlylaid turf at the Green Park Stadium, Uttar Pradesh women had the first look at the goalpost when Lalrin sounded the board with a quick flick on a challenge goal in the third minute (1-0), but within two minutes time Hockey Maharashtra drew the parity through Lalhulunamawii, who shot a field goal (1-all). The ding-dong battle continued as in the seventh minute Shreya netted her first goal after dodging a bunch of rival defenders (2-1), but at the stroke of the half-time, captain Lalruatfeli drew the level (2-2).
However, the next eight minutes after a change in the ends, witnessed some fierce battle with both the teams missing targets on a number of occasions. But Shreya’s last-minute touch to the ball in the 19th minute changed UP’s fortunes (3-2).
In the men’s section, hosts found the going tough as Hockey Haryana took 2-0 lead in just two minutes with Pradeep Mor and Manpreet sounding the board at ease. Seconds before the lemon break, Saif shot one back for UP (1-2). In the second half, Hockey Haryana extended the lead through Jagwant in the 14th minute (3-1), but within seconds Raj Kumar reduced the margin for UP (2-3). Prabhjot made it 4-2 in the 16th minute, before Amir reducing the margin for UP in the 18th minute (3-4).
In other matches in the men’s section, Hockey Jharkhand beat Hockey Odisha 3-2 and Maharashtra outplayed Hockey Unity of Tamil Nadu 5-1. In the women’s section matches, Hockey Punjab defeated Hockey Unity of Tamil Nadu 5-3 to collect full three points, whereas Hockey Haryana beat Hockey Karnataka 3-1.