PEPSU crush Pondicherry

BANGALORE: PEPSU scored a crushing 15-0 win over Pondicherry in a lopsided affair on the first day of the 56th IHF Senior National Women’s Hockey Championship at the KSHA Stadium on Wednesday.

Captain Sumandeep opened with a goal in the seventh minute after which there was no stopping the Patiala girls who made conversions at regular intervals, giving their opponents no room for a comeback. Nitika netted the second for the winners in the 13th, followed by Kulwinder who scored two successive goals in the 16th and 17th minutes. After a brief let-up, the Patiala outfit were at it again with Nitika netting her second goal in the 28th to round off the first half with six goals.

In the second half, Kulwinder added four more goals while Sumandeep contributed three more. Charanjeet opened her account in the 37th and followed it up with two more to take PEPSU’s tally to 15.

Inauguration today: Following the pull out of Railways, Jharkhand and Chandigarh, hosts Karnataka remain in Pool B with Uttarakhand and Rajasthan. Bhopal however have now been moved to Pool G with Andhra Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and West Bengal in the tournament that will see the participation of 27 teams. The withdrawal of the teams also led to the postponement of the opening ceremony, which will now be held on Thursday at 3.30 PM. The function will be presided over by Shantinagar MLA Harris, SAK director general Suresh and principal secretary, sericulture department Nagalambika Devi.