Railways thumps Uttarakhand

Y. B. SARANGI

Title favourite Railways started its campaign in style by registering a 30-0 victory over Uttarakhand, while Orissa notched up a 14-1 win over Tamil Nadu in the National women’s hockey championship here on Saturday.

Railways’ domination over Uttarakhand at the Sports Authority of India (Sonepat) centre ground was on expected lines. Young talent Rani Rampal led the Railways’ goal-scoring spree by finding the mark nine times. Jasjeet (7), Deepika (4), Joydeep (3), Saba Anjum (3), Ritu Rani (2), Soundarya and Chanchan Devi completed the tally in the Pool ‘A’ match.

At the Motilal Nehru School of Sports hockey complex, Tamil Nadu bowed to the firepower of the Orissa forwards. After conceding three goals within the first 10 minutes, Tamil Nadu not only thwarted its rival for 15 minutes but also pulled one back through Renuga Devi.

Orissa took a 6-1 lead at the halfway mark of the Pool ‘G’ match.

Anupa, who performed a hat-trick, and Lilima scored five goals each for Orissa. Surabhi (2), Sarojini and Namita also found the target.

HARYANA IN LAST EIGHT

Meanwhile, Haryana became the first team to reach the quarterfinals after Puducherry pulled out of the championship in the last minute.

Other results: Pool C: Uttar Pradesh 7 (Anima 3, Aproova, Rashmi, Reema and Kirar) bt Manipur 0; Pool D: Punjab 10 (Thakchom Anuradha 3, Amandeep 2, Vartika 2, Shikha 2 and Harmanjeet) bt Rajasthan 2 (Paramjeet and Navreet); Pool E: Kerala 6 (Dhanashree 3, Sowmini 2 and Neethu) bt Bengal 1 (Archana Tiwari); Jharkhand 11 (Shilwanti 5, Sarita 3, Etwari, Susan Anica and Sabnam) bt Himachal Pradesh 0; Pool F: Madhya Pradesh Sports and Youth Welfare Department 23 (Vandana 7, Deepika 4, Jamila 4, Rijuta 2, Sunita 2, Ranjeeta, Kavita, Sushila and Manjari) bt Gujarat 0.