7th Junior National Hockey Women C'ship: MP beat Punjab 8-0 to enter finals

Bhopal/Bengaluru (Madhya Pradesh/Karnataka) [India], May 14 (ANI): Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy took a giant step towards the 7th Junior National Hockey Championship 2017 (Women) 'A' Division title, defeating defending champions Hockey Punjab 8-0 in the semi-finals in Bhopal on Saturday. Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy made sure they capitalised on their first semi final appearance in two years, to put in an impressive performance and dismiss Hockey Punjab 8-0. Captain Karishma Singh led from the front scoring the opener in the 5th minute of the game, and from there they never looked back, constantly attacking, probing and creating chances around defending champions' defence. Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy would go on to score six times in the first half, effectively sealing the game before the half time whistle. In a display of incredible maturity, they held on to control the second half too, and spare themselves energy while doing so, to take a huge step to the title. Singh went on to score a hat trick (5', 19', 37') in an overall impressive display by her team. The other goals scorers for Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy were Neelu Dadiya (15'), Sadhna Sengar (26', 31'), Anjali Gautam (30') and Sarita Devi Brahmachari Mayum (36'). In Bengaluru, action continued on the fourth day of 7th Sub Junior National Hockey Championship 2017 (Men) A Division. In the day's opener from Pool B, Uttar Pradesh Hockey beat Manipur Hockey 6-3 in a game filled with goals and high-paced action. Uttar Pradesh Hockey opened the scoring via Akhtar Ali in the 13th minute and doubled that lead eight minutes later via Suraj Singh. They never truly let up on their advantage and despite a brief barrage by Manipur Hockey Uttar Pradesh Hockey comfortably took the victory. Saurabh Anand (63', 67') scored a brace for the winners in the match. In Pool B's second game, Hockey Bihar beat Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu 4-0. Goals for Hockey Bihar were scored by, Martin Tuti (11'), Soma Dhan (25'), Turtan Minz (50') and Johnson Purty (57'). Hockey Chandigarh outclassed Hockey Maharashtra 13-0 in Pool C's opener. A hat-trick for Hashim (20', 26', 43', 48') and Sahibjeet Singh (31', 45', 69') guaranteed them a comfortable victory. Maninder Singh (56', 59') also scored a brace in the victory. In Pool C's second game, Hockey Patiala beat Hockey Bhopal 3-2. Hockey Bhopal's Sameer Ahmed opened the scoring 4th minute. From there though, Hockey Patiala took complete control of the match, and scored three smart goals via Manpreet Singh (10'), Bikramjit Singh (62') and Aman Thakur (64') to take the victory and three points. Chhattisgarh Hockey beat Delhi Hockey 2-1 in Pool D's opener. Two goals in second half by Khilesh Pandya (43') and Sonu Nishad (53') opened the game out for Chhattisgarh Hockey. Despite a late goal by Lokesh Vats for Delhi Hockey in the 67th minute, Chhattisgarh Hockey held on for the three points. In Pool D, hosts Hockey Karnataka played out a tough 1-1 draw with Hockey Jharkhand. Asim Tirkey scored the opener for Hockey Jharkhand in the 47th minute. Hockey Karnataka's leveller came in the 58th minute via Subal Kerketta. Despite a host of chances for both sides, neither was able to convert the winner, and had to split the points. (ANI)