Hindustan Times: Punjab men, Jharkhand women clinch junior national hockey titles

Punjab defeated Haryana to win the men’s junior national hockey title, while Jharkhand prevailed over Haryana and clinched the women’s junior national hockey crown on Sunday

Punjab and Jharkhand won the men’s and women’s junior national hockey titles, respectively, on Sunday after identical 4-2 wins over Haryana in their respective finals.

In the men’s final. Punjab came from two goals down to defeat Haryana 4-2. Haryana took a 2-0 lead after 37 minutes and looked on course for a win.

However, Punjab scored four goals in the second half to secure the title, having finished with the bronze medal last year.

Gangpur-Odisha, meanwhile, beat Odisha 6-1 to secure the bronze medal.

In the women’s section, Haryana who scored the first goal of the match in the 17th minute through Deepika but Jharkhand scored thrice in the second half to take a 3-1 lead.

Haryana tried to make a comeback as they scored their second goal through Kajal in the 66th minute. But Hockey Jharkhand kept their composure in the final few minutes and scored a fourth goal in the 67th minute to secure the title.

Gangpur-Odisha defeated Uttar Pradesh 2-1 to win the bronze medal.