CHENNAI, Aug 6: Hockey Punjab and Hockey Jharkhand registered victories on Wednesday to cement their places in the final of the 15th Hockey India Sub Junior Men National Championship 2025, held at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium.
Punjab sealed their place in the final with a narrow 4-3 defeat of Uttar Pradesh while in the second semifinal, Jharkhand defeated Madhya Pradesh 3-1.
Hockey Punjab will now face Hockey Jharkhand in the summit clash, while Uttar Pradesh Hockey will meet Hockey Madhya Pradesh in the third-place fixture on Thursday.
In the first semifinal, Punjab overcame Uttar Pradesh Hockey, 4-3. Sukhdev Singh (51’, 52’) struck a late brace, after Mandeep Singh (19’) and Varinder Singh (28’) scored in the first half.
Harsh Pratap Singh (9’), Ali Shahrukh (21’), and captain Ketan Kushwaha (28’) were the scorers for Uttar Pradesh Hockey.
In the other semifinal, Jharkhand defeated Madhya Pradesh, 3-1.
Though Love (21’) gave Madhya Pradesh the lead, Jharkhand bounced back with goals from Soreng Sumray (29’), Ashish Tani Purti (44’) and Jaysan Kandulna (56’) to surge into the finals.
Earlier on Tuesday, Uttar Pradesh Hockey defeated Dadra& Nagar Haveli and Dama &Diu Hockey 4–1; Punjab overcame Odisha 4–3; Jharkhand blanked Chandigarh 13–0 while Madhya Pradesh prevailed over Haryana 2–1 in quaterfinel matches to reach the semifinals.
Jr. WOMEN’s MANIPUR, HIMACHAL QUALIFY FOR DIVISION A
Manipur,Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu won their respective league matches while Himachal drew with Bihar as the Division B contests in HI Junior Women National Championship ended on Wednesday.
Following the conclusion of Division B matches, Manipur from Pool A and Himachal from Pool B got promoted to next year’s Division A.
Manipur defeated Assam 3-1 with Kangjam Silvia Chanu (27’, 49’) scoring a brace and Devi Mutum Priya (26’) slotting home a goal. Ashmita Tigga (20’) scored for the losing side.
Uttarakhand crushed Kerala 7-0 with captain Saloni Pilkhwal (9’, 31’, 46’) scoring a hat-trick, while Raeen Kehkasha Ali (4’, 14’) and Aarti (40’, 45’) scored two goals each.
Himachal drew 1-1 with Bihar with Bhoomi (12’) and Khushi Kumari (11’) scoring for their respective teams.
Tamil Nadu defeated Arunachal 5-0 with Priyadharsini K (39’, 52’) scoring two goals while Akshatha R (43’), Subalakshmi L (40’) and Jayashalini S (46’) netted a goal each.
In Division A league matches, MP and Jharkhand won their respective pool games, while the contest between Haryana and UP ended in a draw.
MPdefeated Punjab 4-0 with Kajal (13’, 52’) and Sneha Patel (36’, 45’) scoring two goals each.
Haryana drew 1-1 with UP with Shashi Khasa (5’) and Rashmi Patel (54’) scoring for their respective teams.
In the third Division A match, Jharkhand defeated Chhattisgarh 7-1 with Saroj Kumari (3’, 8’), Sweety Dungdung (47’, 50’) and captain Rajni Kerketta (36’, 41’) scoring two goals each, while Roshni Aind (19’) netted the seventh goal. (PTI)