Sr. Women Hockey C'ship: Railways, Jharkhand reach semis

Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], Feb 9 (ANI): Railway Sports Promotion Board, Jharkhand, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh scripted stunning victories to storm into the semi-finals of 8th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2018 (A Division) here at the Astro Turf Hockey Stadium last evening.

Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) continued to be superb as they beat Karnataka 14-0 in the first quarter-final. Neha Goyal (4', 48'), Lilima Minz (8', 14'), Navjot Kaur (13', 58'), Anupa Barla (16', 20'), Navneet Kaur (19', 23'), Priyanka Wankhede (26', 42') scored two goals each while Vandana Katariya (37'), Deepika (39'), Neha Goyal (48') and Navjot Kaur (58') scored a goal each in this high-scoring victory.

With this performance, Anupa Barla became the highest goal scorer of the tournament thus far with 13 goals while compatriot Priyanka Wankhede also from RSPB is second with 11 goals.

After a 0-0 stalemate in the regulation time, Jharkhand beat Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 3-2 in penalty shootout.

It was Biranjini Ekka who scored twice in the shootout that helped Jharkhand clinch a thriller of a victory. Anima Minz was the other attacker who beat Madhya Pradesh goalkeeper Nandani Kushwah to score the first goal for Jharkhand in the penalty shootout. For the losing team, Suman Devi and Upasana Singh scored in the shootout.

In the third quarter-final clash, Haryana beat old foe Punjab 6-0 to advance to the semi- final on Saturday. While Haryana's first two goals came off a penalty corner converted by Rani (12') and Ritu (29'), Rani scored two more field goals in the 38th and 57th minute to become the highest goal scorer of the match while Jyoti (50') and Priya (54') scored a goal each.

Madhya Pradesh scored a sensational 8-1 win against Maharashtra to qualify for the Semi Final. It was Soundarya Yendala (7', 8', 12', 17', 35') who starred in the match with five goals. Reena Khokhar (23'), Shivani Singh (36') and Lalhlunmawii (60') were the other goal scorers for the winning team while Bhavana Khade (21') was the lone goal scorer for Maharashtra. (ANI)