Gopikumar stars in UP’s big win in hockey

LUCKNOW : Gopikumar Sonakr struke five goals to help favourites Uttar Pradesh launch their campaign in the 9th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship 2019 (A Division) in style, drubbing Hockey Maharashtra 7-1 in their opening Pool C match at Aurangabad on Sunday.

Gopikumar, who drew the first blood for the side in the third minute, went on striking goals in the fourth, 34th, 45th and 52nd minutes, respectively, whereas Ajay Yadav sounded the board in the 33rd and 44th minutes, respectively.

Hockey Maharashtra’s only goal was scored by Aamid Khan two minutes before the halftime.

Besides Uttar Pradesh, teams like Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu, Hockey Chandigarh, Hockey Haryana and Hockey Jharkhand won their opening fixtures in contrasting manners, at the at the Sports Authority of India Campus. Now, Uttar Pradesh play their next match against Karnataka on Tuesday.

In Pool A, Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu defeated Hockey Punjab 5-4 where the goals for them were scored by S Karthi (6’, 10’, 35’, 50’) and K Tiras (51’). Goals for Hockey Punjab were scored by Parteek Sharma (19’, 51’), Captain Karajwinder Singh (17’) and Sudarshan Singh (22’).

In other Pool A match, Hockey Chandigarh crushed Services Sports Control Board by 7-4. Sahibjeet Singh (8’, 48’, 60’), captain Maninder Singh (45’, 47’), Hashim (2’) and Harpreet Singh (9’) scored for the winners, while Umashankar (30’, 40’), Manip Kerketta (24’) and Du Mokshit (50’) scored for Services Sports Control Board.

One-sided affair continued to happen on the opening day as in pool B, Hockey Haryana defeated Manipur Hockey by 7-0 in which goals for them were scored by Boby Singh Dhami (3’, 45’), Captain Parmeet (3’), Pawan (15’), Ankush (36’), Rimanshu (44’) and Pankaj (59’).

In the same pool, Hockey Jharkhand played out of their skill to defeat Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy by a solitary goal. Deepak Soreng scored the all-important in the 45th minute.

In Pool C, it was Hockey Gangpur-Odisha and Delhi Hockey who played out a 3-3 draw. Goals for Hockey Gangpur-Odisha were scored by Puran Kerketta (18’), Sibren Lakra (37’) and Sudeep Chirmako (43’), while captain Amit (19’), Chetan Sharma (34’) and Sahil Kumar (36’) scored for Delhi Hockey.

Pool D’s opening match also ended in a 1-1 draw as Hockey Odisha and Steel Plant Sports Board shared the points. Hockey Odisha took lead in the 42nd minute through Subas Barla, but Steel Plant Sports Board equalized in the 57th minute through Kingson Thokchom.