New Delhi, 18 May 2015: After putting up a strong set of performances on the first day, the teams aimed to register a win to their names on the second day of the ongoing 5th Hockey India Sub- Junior National Championship 2015 (Div A) being played at New Delhi.
The day began in favour of Hockey Odisha who defeated Manipur Hockey 8-3 followed by another exciting clash between Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy and Sports Authority of India where the former went on attack to beat the latter 3-0. In the third match, Uttar Pradesh Hockey lost to Hockey Haryana 2-4. Ending the day on a winning note for themselves, Hockey Mizoram stood successful in beating Delhi Hockey by 3-2.
The day started off with an exciting clash between Hockey Odisha and Manipur Hockey where the former pulled off a fine win against the latter with a 8-3 on the scoreboard. Both the teams were seen making clever moves since the beginning of the game and it was Manipur Hockey who made a quick entry to the score card with a field goal in the third minute of the game through Romeshkumar Heisnam. To equalize the scores, Hockey Odisha’s Suman Beck made no mistake and converted a penalty corner in the seventh minute taking the scores at 1-1. Hockey Odisha played with full force as Ashwin Kujur wonderfully struck a brace in the 33rd and 35th minute taking the lead to 3-1. By the end of the first half, Hockey Odisha was leading the game 3-1 against Manipur Hockey. With the commencement of the second half, Manipur Hockey bounced back into the game and managed to earn a penalty corner which was confidently converted by Mani Huidrom in the 41stminute took the scores to 2-3. In the 46th minute it was Hockey Odisha who took charge as Suman Beck once again found the nets and struck the fourth goal for his team. With an intention to reduce the margin, Manipur Hockey showed its superior attack and scored through Mani Huidrom who added the second goal to his personal tally in the 51st minute. Not letting the opposition score further, Hockey Odisha bagged 4 more goals to take the winning lead to 8-3.
In the second match of the day, Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy outwitted Sports Authority of India 3-0 to seal its first win in the tournament. It was an intense battle as the first half was almost a dry run for the two teams until Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy thwarted the opponents in the 34thminute when Aniket Yadav slapped the ball into the nets to take the initial lead at 1-0. Shahnawaz Khan managed to sneak past the goalkeeper and struck the second goal for Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy, doubling the lead to 2-0. Putting constant efforts but failing to convert any scoring opportunities, Sports Authority of India gave up to the opponents and Avneesh Kumar Sen scored a 60th minute field goal in favour of Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy who won the match 3-0 against Sports Authority of India.
Registering its second win in the tournament Hockey Haryana beat Uttar Pradesh Hockey by a goal margin of 4-2. The match saw tremendous action as both the teams were looking at creating an initial opening in the game. But Hockey Haryana earned a penalty corner and Captain Vishal Antil made no mistake in sounding the scoreboard in the 26th minute. Without wasting much time, in the next minute itself, Abhishek netted the ball in the 27thminute taking the scores at 2-0. With this, the first half of the game ended 2-0 in favour of Hockey Haryana. While, Hockey Haryana dominated the entire first half, Uttar Pradesh Hockey through its brilliant stick work finally managed to open its account through Captain Abhilas Gupta who penetrated the nets in the 49th minute by converting a penalty stroke. It was Hockey Haryana who retaliated to the perilous attacks of the opponents and struck a wicked field goal in the 54th minute coming from the stick of Roman who took the lead to 3-1. Putting constant efforts to remain in the game, Uttar Pradesh Hockey converted a penalty corner in the 57th minute with the help of Vishal Singh who advanced the scores to 2-3. In the dying minutes of the game, Naveen surged ahead and scored the fourth goal in the 64th minute which took Hockey Haryana towards a victory over Uttar Pradesh Hockey 4-2.
Concluding the day, the final clash between Hockey Mizoram and Delhi Hockey ended with a win for Hockey Mizoram as it beat Delhi Hockey with a fine margin of 3-2. It was a well contested match where Hockey Mizoram kept its nerves throughout the match and breached the opponent’s defence. The action began as early as in the second minute of the game when Mohit Khatri successfully converted a penalty corner. With an aim of levelling the scores at 1-1, Hockey Mizoram struck an equalizer in the 20th minute through Lalmuanawma. They did not stop here as Lalrinfela and Lalchhantluanga scored in the 25th and 29th minute respectively to take the scores at 3-1 in favour of Hockey Mizoram. Delhi Hockey bounced back into the game in the 51st minute though Kanhaiya Kumar but it was too late as Hockey Mizoram won the match 3-2.
Results of the day-
Pool A Hockey Odisha 8 Suman Beck (7min- PC, 46min- PC), Ashwin Kujur (33min- FG, 35min- FG, 53min- FG), Amit Chirmako (58min- FG), Sudhir Kujur (62min- FG, 66min- FG) vs Manipur Hockey 3 Romeshkumar Heisnam (3min- FG), Mani Huidrom (41min- PC, 51min- FG)
Pool A Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 3 Aniket Yadav (34min- FG), Shahnawaz Khan (58min- FG), eesh Kumar Sen (60min- FG) vs Sports Authority of India 0
Pool B Hockey Haryana 4 Vishal Antil (26min- PC), Abhishek (27min- FG), Roman (54min- FG), Naveen (64min- FG) vs Uttar Pradesh Hockey 2 Abhilas Gupta (49min- PS), Vishal Singh (57min- PC)
Pool B Hockey Mizoram 3 Lalmuanawma (20min- FG), Lalrinfela (25min-PC), Lalchhantluanga (29min- FG) vs Delhi Hockey 2 Mohit Khatri (2min- PC), Kanhaiya Kumar (51 min- FG)