Bhubaneswar: Odisha had a magnificent outing at the second edition of the Khelo India Youth Games as the state colts edged past Haryana 4-2 via penalty shootout in the final of the U-21 men’s hockey competition in Mumbai, Tuesday.
The scores remained tied at 2-2 at the end of regulation time. The result could have come earlier had Odisha not squandered a 2-0 lead in the regulation time. Young sensation Dipsan Tirkey put Odisha ahead in the 11th minute before Ashis Topno doubled their advantage on 23 minutes.
However, opposition captain Mandeep Mor reduced the deficit six minutes later to trail 1-2 at half time break. Odisha managed to keep the Haryana players at bay in spite of continuous attacks. However, Haryana’s attacking approach paid off when Mandeep struck the equaliser three minutes from the final hooter to take the match into shootout.
In the penalty shootout, Ashis, Gregory Xess, Shilanand Lakra and Dipsan converted for Odisha while only Kuldeep and Yashdeep Siwach managed to find the target for Haryana.
Whereas, in the bronze medal match, Punjab registered a 2-0 victory, also via penalty shootout, against Uttar Pradesh after both the teams were tied at 1-1 at the end of regulation time.
However, Odisha U-17 eves had an unfortunate outing as they went down 2-3 against Haryana in their Pool B match. Komal Rohilla (11th minute) put Haryana up front before Neha Lakra (21st) restored parity for Odisha. After the change of ends, goals from Deepika (31st) and Neelam (47th) increased the deficit to two goals – 3-1. Nimabati Singh (49th) pulled one back for the state eves but they couldn’t find the equaliser.
In the U-21 women’s competition, Odisha played out a 1-1 draw against Mizoram to split the points. Dipti Lakra (14th) put Odisha up front before VL Hmangaihsangi’s 28th minute goal levelled the scores.
