7th Senior Women National C'ship: Hockey Him beat Hockey Gujarat 23-0

Rohtak (Haryana) [India], Apr. 16 (ANI): Hockey Him ousted Hockey Gujarat 23-0 in their Pool G encounter on the opening day of the Hockey India 7th Senior Women National Championships 2017 'B' Division in Rohtak. The championship, in which 24 teams are participating, will go on for a week. Hockey Him's Saroj scored ten goals (8', 18', 28', 35', 38', 43', 44', 48', 54', 57') in the victory. Earlier in the day, the action kicked off with a keenly contested game between Hockey Rajasthan and Delhi Hockey in Pool A. It took barely two minutes of the game for Delhi Hockey to take the lead, courtesy of a penalty stroke, duly converted by Mayuri Rai. Hockey Rajasthan didn't let their heads drop though, and controlled the game, earning themselves an equaliser in the 15th minute via Raju Ranwa. Hockey Rajasthan captain Manisha Sharma gave her team the lead in the 22nd minute via a PC conversion. It took till the final minutes of the game before Delhi Hockey snatched an equaliser, Rai scoring off another penalty stroke to split the points. In Pool E opener Manipur Hockey beat Hockey Bihar in a tough match 2-1. Pushpa Devi Mayanglambam gave Manipur Hockey the lead in the ninth minute, to take them into half time comfortably in the lead. Four minutes into the second half, Mandakini Devi Warepam scored another to double their lead. Hockey Bihar struck back via Pooja Kumari in the 49th minute, but in the end Manipur Hockey held on for all three points. Pool B's opening game between Hockey Chandigarh and Steel Plant Sports Board proved to be the high scoring thriller of the day, both teams contesting fiercely for the points. Hockey Chandigarh started off the scoring in the game, rattling up two goals within the first 10 minutes, first via Manju (2') and then Harshita Singh (6'). Steel Plant Sports Board were not to be outdone though, Chanda Singh halving the deficit in the 20th minute to take them into half time, still in contention. Hockey Chandigarh were quicker off the blocks in the second half, scoring via Prabhjot Kaur in the 39th minute to restore the two-goal cushion. SPSB's Chanda Singh scored a late goal (60') but it wasn't enough, as Hockey Chandigarh took the victory. In Pool F's opener Hockey Coorg registered an emphatic 7-0 victory over Hockey Mizoram. KR Teena scored a hat trick (6', 38', 40') and BS Harinakshi (44', 45') bagged a brace in their superb performance to kickstart the campaign. In Pool C, a hat-trick by Shivani (35', 37', 45', 56') and goals from Pratibha (7'), Payal (10') and Sabnam (41') helped Hockey Himachal beat Vidarbha Hockey Association 7-0 to take the three points. (ANI)