Haryana reign supreme

Prevail over Punjab in final, Odisha take third place in U-17 KIYG hockey

In a fight for supremacy among the juggernauts of Indian hockey, Haryana proved they are better in the business as they prevailed over Punjab 1-0, to emerge champions in the Khelo India Youth Games (under-17) championship.

At the Mahindra Hockey Stadium, here on Monday, skipper Sahil Sharma set them on the road to victory finding the net in the 40th minute to prove they are the champions.

In a game that witnessed a classic exhibition of our national game, the teams started cautious in the first two quarters as the game was confined to mid-field, as the teams did not want to take chances in their final encounter to prove who were the masters.

It was an action packed second session as the teams exchanged brilliant game of hockey with either of them visiting the rival citadel time and again. And it was Haryana who made the most of it, as Sahil Sharma led by example as the leader of the team, netted the match winner in the 40th minute of play.

Earlier, Odisha who looked a promising side with the disciplined game plan, emerged as the second runner-up getting past Uttar Pradesh with a hard fought 3-2 win via tiebreaker, as the teams failed to break the deadlock in the regular time of play

Results: (3rd & 4th place): Odisha: 3 (Laban Lugun, Sunil Jojo, Sunit Lakra) bt Uttar Pradesh: 2 Chandan Yadav, Deepak Patel) Final: Punjab: 0 lost to Haryana: 1 (Sahil Sharma 40th).