7th Senior National Hockey C'ship: Himachal thrash Tripura 24-0

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], June 13 (ANI): Hockey Himachal consolidated their position at the top of the table in Pool E as they defeated Tripura Hockey 24-0 of the ongoing Hockey India 7th Senior National Hockey Championship 2017 (Men) 'B' Division on Monday. Sumeet Pal Singh (1', 11', 17', 24', 35', 45', 49', 51', 53') and Kamal Chand (5', 6', 24', 26', 30', 44', 47', 56') combined to scored 17 goals between them in a clinical performance on the pitch. In the opening game of the day from Pool F, Assam Hockey beat Hockey Gujarat 9-1. Hat tricks by Puneet Kumar (21', 30', 31'), Suvarn Khandakar (45', 48', 51') and a brace by Salman Khan (42', 47') gave them a comfortable victory and the three points. In Pool D, Central Secretariat beat Manipur Hockey 3-1. Goals for Central Secretariat were scored by Felix Baa (30'), Vinayak Bijwad (38') and Jayesh Jadhav (40'). Manipur Hockey's goal was scored by Ningombam Jenjen Singh in the 36th minute. In Pool D, Hockey Madhya Bharat beat Goans Hockey 5-2. Goals by Prabal Pandey (25', 50'), Vaibhav Chourasiya (34'), Susheel Gupta (48') and Jagmohan Kushwah (58') sealed a first victory of the tournament for Hockey Madhya Bharat. In Pool G, Hockey Puducherry out-fought Punjab National Bank to take a narrow 1-0 victory. In a feisty encounter, where cards were more in supply than goals, Hockey Puducherry came through with flying colours. The team defended stoutly and scored via a R Ragu PC conversion in the 57th minute to take their third consecutive victory of the tournament and guarantee themselves a place in the next round. In Pool E, Bengal Hockey Association beat Hockey Bihar 4-1. Goals for Bengal Hockey Association were scored by Gurdeep Singh (12'), Mohammad Shariq (28'), Saurabh Kumar Singh (34') and Rakesh Barman (58'). Hockey Bihar's goal was scored by Jony Kumar in the 9th minute. Dadra & Nagar Haveli Hockey Association beat Kerala Hockey 9-4 in an exciting Pool G encounter. Searching for their first points of the tournament, both teams made a quick start, and it was Dadra & Nagar Haveli Hockey Association who struck first, Mohit Singh Thakur scoring in the 2nd minute to give them the lead. Thakur went on to score a hat trick in the game (2', 24', 33') as they took their first victory of the tournament. Jinoy Varghese scored a brace for Kerala Hockey (22', 59') in the match. In Pool H, Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu kept their perfect record intact with a classy 5-1 victory over Sashastra Seema Bal. Goals from G Saravanakumar (8'), G Gnanavel (16', 45'), T Raghuram (25') and S Manoj (55') handed them a comfortable victory. Arif Ansari scored Sashastra Seema Bal's only goal in the 35th minute. In Pool H, Chhattisgarh Hockey beat Hockey Jammu & Kashmir 5-0. Hockey Jammu & kashmir rode on a brace each by Mohd Ajaz Qureshi (22', 40') and Ravi Pareek (32', 48') as well as a goal by Mohd Atique Quraishi (45') to take a well deserved victory. In Pool F, Hockey Madhya Pradesh edged out Hockey Bengaluru 2-1 in a highly competitive encounter. Prakash Singh Rawat opened the scoring in the game with a goal in the 2nd minute. It was a lead that Hockey Madhya Pradesh held on to and took into half time. In the third quarter, Hockey Bengaluru finally found the equalizer, Deepak Bejiwad converting a PC in the 39th minute to draw them level. With time ticking by, neither team was willing to commit men forward to find the winner, but in the last looming minutes of the game, Meet Singh Thakur scored the goal that would give Hockey Madhya Pradesh the three points. (ANI)