Sr National Hockey C'ship: Bihar thrash Puducherry 19-0

Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], Jan 30 (ANI): Bihar produced a superlative performance as they hammered Puducherry 19-0 to keep their semi-final hopes alive on the fifth day of 8th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2018 (B Division) here on Tuesday.

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By registering their third victory from four matches, Bihar have accumulated 10 points and stayed three points clear of second-placed Steel Plant Sports Board, who have a game-in-hand.

Bihar started the match well and showed attacking intent as they scored the first goal in the 8th minute and increased the lead to five goals at the end of the second quarter. Bihar scored eight and six goals in the third and fourth quarters respectively to wrap up an impressive win.

Goals for Bihar were scored by Dolly Kumari (14', 35', 36', 56', 58'), Kajal Lakra (8', 23', 32', 43'), Aprajita Kumari (26', 28', 57'), Mariam Champia (33', 44', 47'), Anila Sosan Beck (48', 50'), Emrencia Soy Murum (37') and skipper Shilwanti Minjur (43').

In Pool B, Kerala defeated Gujarat 10-0 to win their fourth consecutive match of the competition and secure a spot in the semi-final. The victors finished their Pool matches with a tally of 12 points. They started their fourth Pool match on the front foot as they scored in only the second minute and extended the lead to 2-0 in the 8th minute.

Gujarat could not match Kerala's attacking display and ended up conceding eight more goals in the match. P S Archana scored four goals for Kerala in the 8th, 26th, 30th and 42nd minutes while Mereena T Mathew (33', 45') and KM Arya (46', 55') scored braces. C Sini (2') and P S Athira (28') also scored a goal each in Kerala's win.

In Pool C, Bengal Hockey Association registered their first win of the competition in their fourth and last Pool match as they beat Goans 2-0.

The match saw both Bengal Hockey Association and Goans look for their first victory in the competition but it was the former who took their chances in the third quarter to score twice in three minutes to wrap up a 2-0 win. Both the goals for Bengal Hockey Association were scored by Sathi Dolui in the 34th and 37th minutes. The win sees Bengal Hockey Association finish the Pool stages with five points from their four matches while Goans remain without a point but have a game to play against Himachal.

In Pool D, Sports Authority of Gujarat - Hockey Academy secured a convincing 8-0 win against Hockey Jammu & Kashmir. While Heena Chauhan (4') and Parmeshwari Shah (36') scored a goal each in Sports Authority of Gujarat - Hockey Academy's win, Muskan Miyasa (14', 56'), Shivangi Solanki (30', 32') and Tanvi Pithva (41', 47') scored two goals each to help their team score the winning points. (ANI)