Junior National Championship: Jabalpur, MP: On the third day of the championship 15 matches were played on four different grounds. All the big teams – defending champion Punjab & Sind Bank, last year’s runner up UP, Services, Air India and Punjab scored emphatic victories in league matches. P&S Bank prevailed over Goa by a margin of 6-0 for their second straight win in Group G while UP wiped out Kerala 2-0 in Group B. In other matches Services blanked Uttranchal 7-0 and Punjab rallied to win over Andhra Pradesh by a similar margin. Both these winners figure in the same Pool and with their undefeated record in the Pool so far, are heading for an interesting duel for top honours.
On the MPEB Ground, Services scored three goals in the first half and four in the second to complete the tally against Uttranchal. Jairam Kujur opened the scoring in the 6th minute and Majhi further consolidated the lead by finding the target in 22nd and 32nd minutes of play. In the second half Krishna Patel (36th), Anand Tirkey (43rd), Anup Kullu (46th) and Pawan Lakra (46th) struck for the winner. In other matches played on this ground, Vidarbha got the better Tamil Nadu 1-0 in a keenly fought encounter and Mizoram stamped their superiority over Madhya Bharat with 1-0 verdict. C Lima scored the winner on the penalty corner for Mizoram while Irshad Mirza earned the same laurel for Vidarbha by finding the target in the dying minutes of the play.
Delhi, second time in succession scored an impressive came from behind victory. In the match against Patiala Delhi netted a goal in either half and put themselves in the fray for the knock out stage. Patiala who started the match confidently surged ahead in 14th minute when Sachin Kumar converted a penalty stroke. Remained undaunted, Delhi got the equalizer in the 29th minute through Prem Kumar who nicely deflected in a cross from Vikas. It was Prem Kumar again in the 40th minute to sound the board for a winner.
In Group A Orissa and Chandigarh played 1-1 draw while Tripura defeated Hyderabad 3-1 in Group G match. It was third straight defeat for Hyderabad in as many matches. Bengal defeated Haryana 2-0 in a Group H match and Rajasthan thrashed Namdhari 3-1 for their first win in Pool E.
Jharkhand moved closer for the knock out stage scoring an impressive 3-1 victory over Manipur in a Group C match at the Ravi Shankar Shukla Stadium. Sudhir (8th), S Ekka (20th) and Thomas Nag (26th) scored for the winner while Odeba got a face saver for the North East giant. The last year silver medallist UP scored a goal in each half through Gaurav (17th) and Lotias (45th) on penalty corner and penalty stroke respectively against Kerala. Chhattisgarh beat Pondichery 1-0 with Amitabh Manakpur being the only scorer of the match
The Results
Pool A: Orissa drew Chandigarh 1-1
Pool B: Uttar Pradesh beat Kerala 2-0
Pool C: Gujarat beat Andaman & Nicobar 5-0
Jharkhand beat Manipur 3-1
Pool D: Services beat Uttaranchal 7-0
Punjab beat Andhra Pradesh 7-0
Air India beat Uttaranchal 5-0
Pool E: Rajasthan beat Namdhari 3-1
Delhi beat Patiala 2-1
Pool F: Mizoram beat Madhya Bharat 1-0
Vidarbha beat Tamil Nadu 1-0
Pool G: Punjab & Sind Bank beat Goa 6-0
Tripura beat Hyderabad 3-1
Pool H: Bengal beat Haryana 2-0
Chhattisgarh beat Pondicherry 1-0