post news network
Bhubaneswar, April 21: Hockey Orissa outplayed Hockey Haryana 3-1 to book their place in the final of the Vth Junior National Hockey Championship at Mysore, Tuesday. They will face Hockey Punjab who defeated Hockey Himachal by 3-0.
The Orissa-Haryana tie was an exciting affair with neither side ready to give an inch to the opposition. With the defenders of both sides excelling, chances were few and far between. The deadlock was broken in the 53rd minute when Suman Kujur converted a penalty corner to give Orissa the lead. He struck again two minutes later, again off a penalty corner.
But Haryana were not ready to throw in the towel. They got back one in the 56th minute when Santa Singh charged into the ‘D’ and deflected the ball into the Orissa goal. However, because of their aggressive approach, Haryana left gaps in their defence. Orissa took advantage of this lapse and Prakash Barla scored in the 63rd minute to make the issue safe for Orissa.
In the other semifinal, Harmanpreet Singh scored a brace and Simranpreet Singh added another as Hockey Punjab beat Hockey Himachal. The final will be played Wednesday.
Hockey Gangpur win
Hockey Gangpur defeated Hockey Jharkhand 4-2 in a match of the Senior National Hockey Championships (Men) at Pune, Tuesday. The first half was an exciting affair with both sides scoring. Gangpur took the lead in the second minute of the game when Roshan Minz scored a field goal. Wilson Minz doubled the score in the 10th minute. But Jharkhand came back strongly through skipper Chandrashekhar Xalxo who converted two penalty corners in succession to tie the score at 2-all.
In the second half Gangpur dominated and strikes from Roshan and Bikash Toppo secured the win.
