Jhansi, April 13: Hockey Madhya Pradesh and Hockey Punjab won their Semi-Final matches in the 15th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship 2025 in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh and are one step away from lifting the coveted title.
In the first Semi-Final match, Hockey Madhya Pradesh defeated Manipur Hockey 5-3 to seal their spot in the grand finale. Captain Yousuf Affan (5’, 34’) and Ali Ahmad (7’, 15’) scored braces for Hockey Madhya Pradesh, while Mohammad Zaid Khan (49’) also contributed with a goal. Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh (47’), Captain Chinglensana Singh Kangujam (50’) and Laishram Dipu Singh (53’) scored for Manipur Hockey.
In the other semi-final match, Hockey Punjab emerged victorious over Uttar Pradesh Hockey with a scoreline of 4-3 in a closely contested game. Jasjit Singh Kular (14’, 40’) registered a brace for Hockey Punjab along with goals from Harjeet Singh (22’) and Jugraj Singh (45’). For Uttar Pradesh Hockey, Sharda Nand Tiwari (41’, 43’) added two goals to his tally and Pawan Rajbhar also recorded a goal to his name, but unfortunately for them, they couldn’t find an equaliser in time.
Earlier in the quarter-finals Hockey Madhya Pradesh emerged victorious over Hockey Maharashtra 4-2 in shootout. Pratap Lakra (6’) converted a penalty corner and opened the scoring for Hockey Madhya Pradesh early in the game. Three minutes later, Hockey Maharashtra promptly replied courtesy of a field goal from Aakib Rahim (9’).
Defences were on top in the second quarter-final match as Manipur Hockey and Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu played out a goalless draw and battled it out in the shootout, which the former won 4-1.
In the third match, Hockey Punjab defeated Hockey Haryana 3-2 to seal their spot in the Semi-Finals. Araijeet Singh Hundal (15’) scored the only goal of the first-half to give Hockey Punjab the lead. Sanjay (32’) scored the equaliser for Hockey Haryana, but Hockey Punjab scored two goals in quick succession thanks to Jugraj Singh (33’) and Pardeep Singh (34’) to reclaim the lead. Kuldeep (56’) got one goal back in the dying minutes of the game however, Hockey Punjab prevailed over the four quarters.
In the last quarter-final match, Uttar Pradesh Hockey enjoyed a 3-1 win over Hockey Karnataka. Although Rahul C.J (24’) scored the first goal to take the lead in the second quarter for Hockey Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh Hockey made a strong comeback. Manish Yadav (45’) successfully converted a penalty corner to level the score in the third quarter. They then scored two goals in the fourth quarter courtesy of Pawan Rajbhar (52’) and Sharda Nand Tiwari (59’) to seal their spot in the semi-final. (IANS)
