Punjab trump hosts, in semis
The Quarter- Final matches of the 3rd Hockey India 5- a- side Senior National Championship 2018 ( Women) took place here today which saw Hockey Haryana, Hockey Punjab, Hockey Jharkhand and Hockey Maharashtra secure their berths in the Semi- Finals of the competition.
Apart from Punjab, Haryana, Jharkhand and Maharashtra secured berth in the last four stage.
Haryana will face Punjab in the first semi- final on Sunday while Jharkhand will play against Maharashtra in the second last four match on the same day.
In the first quarter- final match of the day, Haryana defeated Uttar Pradesh 5- 1 in an exciting match. Haryana scored twice in the opening period for a two- goal advantage through Manpreet Kaur ( 8th) and skipper Poonam Rani ( 9th).
Uttar Pradesh pulled a goal back in the 14th minute when their captain Shyama Tidgam scored, but three goals in the closing four minutes by Haryana saw them progress.
Haryana’s second period goals were scored by Sonika ( 17th, 17th) and Amandeep Kaur ( 18th).
The second last eight match of the competition was evenly contested between Punjab and the hosts.
The first period ended level at 22 with Karnataka cancelling Punjab’s lead twice. The hosts took the lead for the first time in the 12th minute, but three goals in the remaining minutes saw Punjab eliminate the hosts with a 5- 3 victory. Goals for Punjab were scored by Narinder Kaur ( 6th, 20th), Rajwinder Kaur ( 8th, 13th) and Pooja Rani ( 20th) while H. R. Anjali ( 7th), skipper Leelavathy M. J. Mallamada ( 9th) and S. P. Kruthika ( 12th) scored for Karnataka.
Jharkhand defeated Odisha 3- 1 in the penalty shootout after the scores were tied at 1- 1 at the end of regulation time.
Odisha had taken an early lead in the match through Mariana Kujur in the 3rd minute. But Jharkhand equalised in the 7th minute through Pramila Soreng. In the penalty shootout, Jharkhand’s Pramila Soreng, Alka Dungdung and Simta Ming were on target while Mariana Kujur scored Odisha’s only goal.
Maharashtra also maintained their fine form in the competition as they defeated Tamil Nadu by an emphatic 7- 0 margin.
Maharashtra scored four goals in the first period and backed it up with three more in the second period. The goals were scored by Preeti Dubey ( 2nd, 14th), Kavita Vidyarthi ( 7th, 8th), Sanggai Ibemhal ( 6th), Aishwarya Chavan ( 15th) and H. Lalruatfeli ( 20th).