Gangpur- Orissa, Delhi in final

Gangpur- Orissa and Delhi will face- off in the final after contrasting wins in their respective semi- finals in the 4th Hockey India sub- junior boys’ national championship Division B in Baroda on Saturday.

The boys from Gangpur- Orissa were made to sweat hard before eking out a solitary goal verdict over a spirited Sports Authority of India in the last four clash.

Both teams were equally matched in the first half and the half time break found them locked goalless.

In the second half, Gangpur-Orissa finally scored through Pratap Lakra in the 42nd minute which turned out to be the winner. SAI continued to pose tough questions, but the Orissa defence held them at bay.

In the other semi- final, formidable Delhi had a much easier day in office, swatting away a hapless Gujarat 8- 0.

Arun Kumar ( 22nd, 24th and 41st) scored consecutive goals for the winners. Mukul Sharma ( 60th, 61st) also did well to strike a brace while Nitin Ram ( 43rd), Kuldeep ( 48th) and Aman Minj ( 67th) completed the tally.

ORISSA BEGIN WITH WIN

Orissa had a rousing start in Division A, with a 11- 0 thrashing of Chhattisgarh.

Sudhir Kujur ( 11th, 45th, 51st, 60th mins) got a hat- trick and Amit Chrmako ( 33rd, 57th), Punit Kujur ( 37th, 44th) scored twice each. Suraj Minz ( 3rd), Amit Chrmako ( 33rd, 57th), Punit Kujur ( 37th, 44th), Suman Kujur ( 42nd), Ashish Topno ( 68th) were the other goal scorers.

In another Pool A match, Tamil Nadu beat Kerala 3- 1 with S. Clarance Sushil ( 9th), H. B. Jeevakumar ( 16th) and Parul Murgan ( 22nd) sounding the boards. Kerala scored through Sinjith V. in the 48th minute.

In Pool B, Jharkhand defeated Andhra Pradesh 5- 1.