Chennai: Tough fights and close wins surround Day-6 of the 4th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship 2014 (Division A) played in Chennai today, where Hockey Odisha and Sports Authority of India emerged victorious and joined Haryana and Punjab in the semi-finals to be played this Saturday. While Haryana will take on Punjab on Saturday in the first semi-final match, Sports Authority of India will clash against Odisha in the second semi-final match. It is yet to be seen who will keep their nerves and take the bus to the finale.
In Pool B match, Hockey Odisha continues its winning form and in its 3rd match of Pool B, the team beats Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd convincing to enter the next stage of the tournament. The team beat the opponents with a 4-0 margin and not giving them a single chance to open their scorecard. All 4 goals by Odisha were converted through the penalty corner opportunities that the team got. The team got its first penalty corner in the very 1st minute which was converted from the stick of Sanjit Toppo. In the 31st minute the team got its second penalty corner and this time it was Anand Lakra who did the scoring. Going into the second half Hockey Odisha was leading 2 goals to 0.
Struggling hard but failing to score even a single goal in the second half as well, Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd continued to disappoint allowing Joseph Toppo to score a penalty corner in 61st minute. Finishing the game and giving Hockey Odisha an interesting win Anuranjan Tirkey stroked in a goal in 68th minute giving them a convincing win.
In Pool D match, Sports Authority of India continues its dream run in the tournament by beating Hockey Bhopal 5-0 today, which takes them to the semi-final stage. The team went on the attack immediately and in the 6th minute Navdeep Singh converted the penalty corner opportunity. In the 30th minute Sports Authority of India took another lead when Ajay Yadav scored a field goal. After the end of the session the team was leading with 2 goals to 0, denying Hockey Bhopal any scoring opportunity during the entire session. The scenario was different in the second half as Sports Authority continued its attack and goal scoring session. The team scored another 3 goals in the second half and which came in the 49th, 54th and 67th minute.
In another Pool B match, a strong clash was seen between Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka where the end result of the match went in favour of Himachal Pradesh as they registered a close win by 4-3. The opening goal of the match came from Harmanjeet Singh of Himachal Pradesh in the 15th minute of the game which was quickly countered by Karnataka’s Anjaneya S A in the 19th minute, levelling the scores at 1-1. Himachal Pradesh’s Abhishek managed to sneak in a field goal in the 33rd minute and helped the team to take the lead by 2-1 by the end of the first half. Two field goals in the second half by Karnataka’s Jagath Nachappa in the 38th and 42nd minute not only helped in equalizing the scores but also managed to snatch the lead from Himachal Pradesh by 3-2. It was Badal Choudhary of Himachal Pradesh who drove the team towards the win as he managed to pierce in two field goals in the 50th and 54th minute and helped the team to register a 4-3 win over Karnataka.
In another Pool D match, another exciting match was witnessed between Hockey Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh as both the teams stepped on the field with a ‘do or die’ attitude. The opening goal came through Hockey Maharashtra’s Razik Shaikh in the 11th minute which replied to immediately by Chhattisgarh’s Wasiullah Khan in the 14th minute. With the eagerness to keep the lead, Hockey Maharashtra’s Shubham made no mistake in converting a penalty corner in the 15th minute and took the lead by 2-1. Both the teams kept a challenging stance throughout and the scores read 3-3 by the end of an exciting first half. A span of five minutes in the second half starting from the 48th minute saw three quick goals where Chhattisgarh’s Wasiullah Khan and Kartik Yadav scored in 48th and 52nd minute respectively, the third goal came through Mithlesh Kumar of Hockey Maharashtra in the 51st minute. Chhattisgarh led the score board by 5-4 till Maharashtra’s Sumit Kumar and Laxman Kare dunked in two goals consecutively in the 64th and 65th minute, taking the team to a winning 6-5 on board.
Results of the day-
Pool B Hockey Odisha 4 Sanjit Toppo (1 minute), Anand Lakra (31 minute), Joseph Toppo (61 minute), Anuranjan Tirkey (68 minute) Vs Mumbai 0
Pool D Sports Suthority of India 5 Navdeep Singh (6 minute), Ajay Yadav (30 minute), Ajit Ku. Pandey (49, 67 minute), Pawan Rajbhar (54 minute) Vs Hockey Bhopal 0
Pool B Himachal Pradesh 4 Badal Choudhary (50 and 54 min), Harmanjeet Singh (15 min) and Abhishek (33 min) Vs. Karnataka 3 Jagath Nachappa (38 and 42 min) and Anjaneya S A (19 min)
Pool D Hockey Maharashtra 6 Sumit Kumar (34 and 64 min), Razik Shaikh (11 min), Shubham (15 min), Mithlesh Kumar (51 min) and Laxman Kare (65 min) Vs. Chhattisgarh 5 Wasiullah Khan (14 and 48 min), Akash Tamrakar (27 min), Raja Khan (29 min) and Kartik Yadav (52 min).
