7th Senior National Hockey C'ship: CRPF beat Hockey Puducherry 3-1 to enter semis

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), June 15 (ANI): Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) defeated Hockey Puducherry 3-1 in the quarter-finals of the ongoing Hockey India 7th Senior National Hockey Championship 2017 (Men) 'B' Division here on Wednesday. Central Reserve Police Force exerted their authority on the game from the starting hooter, and dominated their opposition. Goals by Ignacius Toppo (9', 28') and Md. Wasiullah Khan (29') put them three to the good leading into half time. Despite Hockey Puducherry pushing up the tempo in the 3rd quarter, and consistently pushing Central Reserve Police on the back-foot, it was difficult to get back in the game. They scored a goal in the final quarter via V Veerathamizan in the 53rd minute, but in the end it was too little too late as Central Reserve Police Force progressed to the next round. In another game, Petroleum Sports Promotion Board beat Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu 2-0. Petroleum Sports Promotion Board have been in devastating form throughout the tournament, and came into the match having scored 47 goals in their four games. Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu had the meanest defence of the tournament, conceding just the one goal through their pool stages. In the game though, Petroleum Sports Promotion Board proved too strong, controlling the early stages of the match, and dictating the play. In the 20th minute, Devindar Walmiki scored the opener, to give them the lead. Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu were forced to play out of their shell in the second half, and in the 39th minute, VR Raghunath converted a PC to double Petroleum Sports Promotion Board's lead. Despite a frantic final quarter, Petroleum Sports Promotion Board showed a lot of experience and calm to close the match and proceed to the semi finals. Central Secretariat beat Hockey Himachal 4-2 in a free-wheeling high scoring second quarterfinal. Vinod Kumar put Hockey Himachal in front in the 13th minute, but the lead was short lived, Ajitesh Roy scoring the leveler in the final minute of the quarter. In the second quarter, Central Secretariat picked up the pace, and Felix Baa gave them their lead in the 24th minute. It was a lead they never let go of, as they extended it early in the third quarter via Jayesh Jadhav before Vinayak Bijwad truly sealed the game in the 53rd minute. Hockey Himachal scored via Naurvi Ram in the 45th minute, but in the end weren't able to do enough as Central Secretariat took their place in the final four. Central Industrial Security Force beat Hockey Madhya Pradesh 1-0 in the final match of the day. Both teams started the game cautiously, content with shuffling the game around in midfield and playing out of the defence. The first two quarters didn't produce a single goal and the teams went into half time locked in a stalemate. Central Industrial Security Force came out of half time energized and duly took the lead via an Adnan Wasim goal in the 34th minute. The goal proved to be the decider, Central Industrial Security Force keeping a clean sheet to progress to the semi finals. (ANI)