7th Junior Men's C'ship: Hockey Odisha beat Steel Plant Sports Board 3-1

Bhopal [India], Apr 22 (ANI): Hockey Odisha edged past Steel Plant Sports Board 3-1 in their Pool A clash on the third day of 7th Junior National Hockey Championship 2017 (Men) 'A' Division here at Aisbagh Stadium. Despite a host of attacking chances, neither team broke the deadlock in the first half of the game. It took till the 53rd minute for the opener, scored by Amit Chirmako to give Hockey Odisha the lead. Within two minutes though Steel Plant Sports Board had equalised via Jay Prakash Patel. Hockey Odisha hit back with two more goals, first by Sudhir Kujur (56') and then Suraj Minz (69') to take the victory. In second game of the day, Hockey Gangpur - Odisha hammered Hockey Himachal 15-1 in Pool B. Anand Ekka (21', 29', 39', 65') scored a hat trick and was assisted by Pratap Lakra's brace (9', 50') for Hockey Gangpur - Odisha in the game. Hockey Himachal's goal was scored by Jaswinder Singh in the 66th minute. Meanwhile, Sports Authority of India beat Hockey Karnataka 6-3 in Pool C. The two teams traded goals in the opening half, Md Saif Khan's goal (18') for Sports Authority of India was equalised by Hockey Karnataka's Mokshith Uthappa in the 28th minute. Rausan Kumar scored another in the 29th minute to give Sports Authority of India the lead going into half time. They never let the lead slip in the second half, and consistently held Hockey Karnataka at bay to earn a well deserved victory. In matches played last evening, Uttar Pradesh Hockey beat Delhi Hockey 6-0, Hockey Haryana beat Hockey Chandigarh 4-0, Hockey Himachal drew with Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu 3-3, Chhattisgarh Hockey lost 3-7 to Hockey Maharashtra while Hockey Punjab beat Hockey Bhopal 5-0.(ANI)