7th Junior National Hockey Women C'ship: Punjab beat Gangpur-Odisha 5-3

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], May 11 (ANI): Hockey Punjab outclassed Hockey Gangpur - Odisha in an entertaining quarter-final contest of the 7th Junior National Hockey Championship 2017 (Women) 'A' division on Thursday. Hockey Punjab opened the scoring in the 5th minute via Gurkamalpreet Kaur only to see their lead cancelled out by a Janhabi Pradhan equaliser in the 10th minute. Quickfire goals from Baljeet Kaur (14') and Rajwinder Kaur (16') gave Hockey Punjab the lead, and despite conceding once to a Jiwan Kishori Toppo PC conversion they went into half time with the game under control. In the second half, Hockey Punjab never really let up on the pressure and Baljeet scored again in the 41st minute to grab her brace as they rode out 5-3 winners. In the second quarter final match, Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy put in a disciplined and hard-working performance to beat Sports Authority of India 4-0 and advance to the semi finals. Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy opened the scoring in the 1st minute of the game via Sarita Devi Brahmachari Mayum, and kept attacking relentlessly. Within the first ten minutes they had notched up a 3-goal cushion, the other goals scored by Anjali Gautam (4') and Neelu Dadiya (10'). From there on, they comfortably controlled the pace of the game and held the possession to take the victory. Gautam scored a second goal in the final minute of the game to complete her brace. In the days' third quarter final, Hockey Haryana beat Uttar Pradesh Hockey 6-2. In an emphatic first half display, Hockey Haryana established their dominance by scoring four goals without any reply. Reet opened the scoring in the fourth minute. A brace of PC conversions by Hockey Haryana skipper Ritu in the 22nd and 31st minute took them into half time well in the lead. Reet added another goal to her tally in the second half, scoring in the 39th minute, as Hockey Haryana took the victory. Mumtaz Khan (44', 55') scored a brace for Uttar Pradesh Hockey. Amandeep Kaur was also among the goals (12', 61') for Hockey Haryana. In the final quarter final of the day, Hockey Jharkhand beat Hockey Odisha 2-1. Deepika Soreng opened the scoring for Hockey Jharkhand in the 11th minute. It was a lead they took into half time. Immediately after half time, Elima Minz scored the equaliser for Hockey Odisha. Despite the setback Hockey Jharkhand controlled most of the play and were duly rewarded with a goal in the 46th minute by Sangita Kumari. Despite a host of chances and several attacks, Hockey Jharkhand held strong as Sangeeta Kumari's goal proved to be the winner that powered them to the semi finals. (ANI)