New Delhi, 19 May 2015: The Day 3 of the 5th Sub-Junior National Hockey Championship 2015 (Men) – Division ‘A’ saw a high-level of hockey and young players showcased their best skills during the matches being played in New Delhi. Today in Pool C, Hockey Punjab defeated Chhattisgarh Hockey by 31-0 and Hockey Gangpur-Odisha beat Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu by 17-0. In Pool D, Hockey Karnataka drew at 2-2 against Hockey Jharkhand and Hockey Andhra Pradesh edged past Hockey Maharashtra by 2-1.
In the Pool C match between Hockey Punjab and Chhattisgarh Hockey, Hockey Punjab defeated Chhattisgarh Hockey by a huge margin of 31-0 with the help of Sumeetpal Singh’s eight goals, Gursahibjit Singh’s and Navpreet Singh’s five goals each. Hockey Punjab controlled the match from the first minute and didn’t allow Chhattisgarh Hockey to play freely. Hockey Punjab earned a penalty corner in the 2nd minute and skipper Dilpreet Singh converted it perfectly to take the early lead. In the next few minutes, Hockey Punjab continued their aggressive attacks and Sumeetpal and Dilpreet scored two goals in 3rd and 5th minute of the match respectively. Inspired by quick goals by the leading team, Navpreet took the charge and scored three back-to-back goals in 9th, 10th and 12thminutes to take the score-line to 6-0. With the aggressive game, Hockey Punjab kept the ball in opponent’s half and scored goals in every two minutes. Sumeetpal led the charge from the front and scored another goal in the 14th minute, followed by Harmanpreet Singh’s brilliant goal in 16th minute of the match. Hockey Punjab’s Gursahibjit came from behind with his speedy run and scored two back-to-back goals in 19th and 20th minute of the match to take the score-card to 10-0. Being in total control, Hockey Punjab’s Harpreet and Harmanpreet hit two more goals in 23rd and 27th minute to the match. Sumeetpal stroke back with his spectacular game and scored four goals in 29th, 30th, 32nd (penalty corner conversion) and 33rd minutes to extend the lead by 16-0. But this time, Chhattisgarh Hockey lost all their hope to bounce back and played defensive game. In the 37thminute, Hockey Punjab earned a penalty corner, which was effectively converted by Loverose Singh. In the next few minutes, Harmanpreet (39th, 44th), Navpreet (42nd), Gursahibjit (45th) sent the ball in the nets and increased the score-line to 21-0. Sumeetpal, Dilpreet, Gursahibjit and Ranjeet Singh hit four goals in 46th, 48th, 50th and 52nd minutes respectively and increased the lead to 25-0. After leading by a huge margin, Gursahibjit, Sumeetpal, Harmanjit Singh and Karanbir Singh scored four consecutive goals in 56th, 57th, 62nd and 63rd minutes respectively. In the 65th minute, Hockey Punjab once again managed to earn a penalty corner, which was perfectly converted by Navpreet for the 30th goal for his team. In the 66th minute, Harmanjit scored the 31st goal for his team and defeated Chhattisgarh Hockey by 31-0.
In another match in Pool C, Hockey Gangpur-Odisha beat Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu by 17-0. Nahas Barwa’s spectacular five goals, hat-trick by Mandip Kerketta and braces by Prakash Dhir, Albert Tete and Sudeep Chirmako contributed towards this mammoth victory of Hockey Gangpur-Odisha. Hockey Gangpur-Odisha controlled the match from the first minute and Nahas Barwa scored two consecutive field goals in the 2nd and the 5th minute. Maintaining the pressure on the opponents Mandip Kerketta scored a hat-trick in the 8th, 9th, 12th minute and Nahas Barwa scored again in the 13thminute taking the score line to 6-0. Prakash Dhir, Albert Tete, Rahul Ekka, Nahas Barwa and Shakti Kujur scored goals in the 14th, 18th, 20th, 31st and 34th minute respectively, adding to the tally 11-0 at the end of first half. Hockey Gangpur-Odisha maintained its wining momentum over Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu, and managed to score a series of goals as Prakash Dhir, Abhijeet Swain, Sudeep Chirmako and Albert Tete scored in the 43rd, 61st, 63rd, 65th minute respectively to take the score card to 15-0. Hockey Gangpur-Odisha completely defeated Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu by two field goals in 69th and 70th minute by Sudeep Chirmako and Nahas Barwa, taking the final score line to 17-0.
The third match of the day in Pool D was a closely contested match where Hockey Karnataka drew at 2-2 against Hockey Jharkhand. Both the teams displayed intense game and made crucial attempts to penetrate the opponent’s defence. Riding high with confidence, Hockey Karnataka’s Captain Rajesh scored opening goal of the match in the 34th minute through a penalty corner conversion and put-up a 1-0 lead before the halftime. Just three minutes into the second half, Noel Topno of Hockey Jharkhand struck an equaliser in the 38th minute to level the scores at 1-1. Hockey Jharkhand seemed to be more structured and confident as they came back through Nimeshan Kerketta who powerfully converted a penalty corner in the 49th minute to take 2-1 lead. With full determination to level the scores, Rahul made no mistake and surged ahead to strike a beautiful goal in favour of Hockey Karnataka in the 62nd minute and the teams locked the scores at 2-2.
In the last match of the day in Pool D, Hockey Andhra Pradesh edged past Hockey Maharashtra by 2-1. It was Hockey Andhra Pradesh who scored the first goal in 33rd minute when they earned a penalty corner and Chinnayya Rachapudi converted it perfectly to give a lead. However, their joy was short-lived as Hockey Maharashtra received a penalty stroke in 48th minute and skipper Rahul Shinde converted in equaliser. Hockey Andhra Pradesh counter attacked with full force and Ramesh Gedela scored the winning goal in the 63rd minute of the match. After a hard-fought contest, Hockey Andhra Pradesh beat Hockey Maharashtra by 2-1.
Results of the Day
Pool C – Hockey Punjab 31 Dilpreet Singh (2min-PC, 5min-FG, 48min-FG), Sumeetpal Singh (3min-FG, 14min-FG, 29min-FG, 30min-FG, 32min-PC, 33min-FG, 46min-FG, 57min-FG), Navpreet Singh (9min-FG, 10min-FG, 12min-FG, 42min-FG, 65min-FG), Harmanpreet Singh (16min-FG, 27min-FG, 39min-FG, 44min-FG), Gursahibjit Singh (19min-FG, 20min-FG, 45min-FG, 50min-FG, 56min-FG), Harpreet Singh (23min-FG), Loverose Singh (37min-PC), Ranjeet Singh (52min-FG), Harmanjit Singh (62min-FG, 66min-FG), Karanbir Singh (63min-PC) vs Chhattisgarh Hockey 0
Pool C – Hockey Gangpur-Odisha 17 Nahas Barwa (2 min-FG, 5 min-FG, 13 min-FG, 31 min-FG, 70 min-FG), Mandip Kerketta (8 min-FG, 9 min-FG, 12 min-FG), Prakash Dhir (14 min-PC, 43 min-FG), Albert Tete (18 min-FG, 65 min-FG), Rahul Ekka (20 min-FG), Shakti Kujur (34 min-FG), Abhijeet Swain (61 min-FG), Sudeep Chirmako (63 min-FG, 69 min-FG) vs Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu 0
Pool D – Hockey Karnataka 2 Rajesh (34min-PC), Rahul (62min-PC) vs Hockey Jharkhand 2 Noel Topno (38min-FG), Nimeshan Kerketta (49min-PC)
Pool D – Hockey Andhra Pradesh 2 Chinnayya Rachapudi (33min-PC), Ramesh Gedela (63min-FG) vs Hockey Maharashtra 1 Rahul Shinde (48min-PS)