Hockey Haryana crowned champion in Women National C’ships

Hisar (Haryana): The final match of the 8th Hockey India Sub Junior (Women) National Championship 2018 (A Division) took place here, with hosts Hockey Haryana emerging as the Champions after defeating Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 6-1 on Sunday.

In the Bronze Medal match, it was Hockey Gangpur-Odisha who edged past Sports Authority of India (SAI) 4-2 in a thrilling match.

The final match saw Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy and Hockey Haryana lock horns to be crowned as the champions of this tournament. After a nervy start from both the teams, it was Hockey Haryana who showed composure to score the first goal of the match in the 19th minute through Deepika.

Five minutes later, Hockey Haryana extended their lead when skipper Neelam scored from a penalty corner in the 24th minute. Simranjeet Kaur (30′) and Anu (34′) also scored goals. The hosts took a 4-0 lead within the half-time break.

Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy had been in fine form throughout the tournament but could not produce any attacking flair in the final.

Hockey Haryana continued their rampaging form and scored twice in the second half to secure the victory. Anu scored her second goal of the match in the 61st minute and Komal Rohilla (65′) also bagged a goal for herself. Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy’s only goal was scored by Priyanka Yadav in the 67th minute.

In the bronze medal match, SAI lost to Hockey Gangpur-Odisha with a scoreline of 2-4.

It was a well-contested match with both teams scoring two goals each in the first half. SAI was ahead twice in the first half, but Hockey Gangpur-Odisha equalized twice to make it 2-2 at the half-time break.

However, the second half was more about Hockey Gangpur-Odisha’s domination. They scored twice to wrap up the win, which was coupled with some marvelous defending.

Goals for Hockey Gangpur-Odisha were scored by Aten Topno (30′, 54′), Sonia Kumari Topno (21′) and Sunita Xaxa (53′). For SAI, Pooja (13′) and Nelismita Topppo (27′) were the scorers. (ANI)