Prabodh Tirkey puts Jharkhand in final
Host Jharkhand entered the men’s hockey final, edging out Maharashtra 2-1 through a golden goal in an emotionally-charged match here on Thursday.
Jharkhand will meet Punjab on Friday in the summit clash.
The semifinal match of the 34th Jharkhand National Games had to be stopped with 15 minutes remaining in the second half on Wednesday due to crowd trouble, after a penalty stroke was awarded to Maharashtra.
The penalty stroke stood and Vikram Pillay converted it at the resumption. Jharkhand pushed hard and the equaliser came with nine minutes remaining for the final whistle when Roshan Minz deflected home a long ball.
After the match went into the second extra time, captain Prabodh Tirkey converted a penalty corner giving the early morning crowd a lot to cheer about.
The result: Men: Semifinal: Jharkhand 2 (Roshan Minz, Prabodh Tirkey) bt Maharashtra 1 (Vikram Pillay). Bronze medal play-off: Men: Maharashtra bt Services 3-1; Women: M.P. bt Orissa 4-0.