Mysore (Karnataka), 14 April 2015: The participating teams started well on the first day of the 5th edition of the Junior Men National Hockey Championship 2015 (Div A) where they outclassed their opponents to register their first wins on the opening day of the tournament at Mysore, Karnataka today.

Hockey Punjab picked up its first win in the opening match of the tournament against Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 9-1. The second match witnessed Services Sports Control Board defeating Hockey Maharashtra 5-1. Hockey Odisha beat Hockey Bhopal by 4-1 in the third match and Hockey Karnataka held Manipur Hockey 2-2 in the fourth match.

The first match of the day Hockey Punjab registered their first win of the tournament over Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 9-1. Hockey Punjab’s Ajit Pandit supported his team with two goals and helped his team with the initial lead of 2-0 in the 20th and 21st minute of the game. Through the penalty corner earned in the 29th minute of the match, Harmanpreet Singh dexterously scored the third goal for Hockey Punjab. Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy showed no signs of fear and finally opened their score card in the 30th minute through Shahbaz Uddin’s field effort. Ajit Pandit contributed two more field goals to Hockey Punjab in the 33rd and 43rd minute taking the lead further at 5-1. Hockey Punjab did not stop here as it scored 4 field goals through Ajmer Singh in the 44th, 49th and 69th minute and Sukhjeet Singh in the 58thminute advancing the scores to 9-1. As Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy failed to deliver on the opportunities, Hockey Punjab declared its first win of the tournament with 9-1 on the score board.

In another match of Pool A, Services Sports Control Board had an easy win over Hockey Maharashtra with the former winning the match with 5 goals to 1. The match started with Services Sports Control Board going on attack immediately and five minutes into the game, Bishram Dodray scored the first goal for the team. In the 25th minute, Mohd Nadeem scored the second goal followed by Harpreet Singh who added another field goal in the 32nd minute which helped Services Sports Control Board take a 3-0 lead. Sangram Pokhale for Hockey Maharashtra scored the lone goal for his team and opened the team’s score card in the 41stminute. In the second half of the game, continuing their attack on the opponents, Services Sports Control Board stood strong as they scored two goals with the support of Mohd Nadeem and Jograj in the 56th and the 66th minute of the game. With this, Services Sports Control Board pulled off a fine win against Hockey Maharashtra 5-1.

In Pool B match, Hockey Odisha beat Hockey Bhopal by 4-1 in the one-sided match. It was Bhopal who scored the first goal of the match in the 16th minute of the match when Mohd. Umar stormed into the opponent’s half and hit the ball hard into the net. After conceding the goal, Odisha team came strongly on the field with more zeal after the Half-time. They scored four goals continuously in the rest of the match and finished as winners. Kunjan Topno opened the account in the 46thminute after dribbled past opponent’s defenders. After five minutes (51st minute), Sanjib Ekka sneaked into the defence-line and sent the ball into the goal box to extend the lead. After three minutes (54thminute), skipper Prasant Tikka charged from the front and scored the third goal for his team. Leading by 3-1, Odisha was now in total charge of the match and they continued their attacking game. In the 66thminute, Nitin Mukesh Tigga scored the fourth goal for his team and helped his team to register a thumping 4-1 victory over Hockey Bhopal.

In another Pool B match, Hockey Karnataka and Manipur Hockey fought neck-to-neck and finished with a score of 2-2. Both the team tussled hard in the first half and couldn’t breach each other’s defence. It was Manipur whose star player Mani Huidrom scored the first goal of the match in 41st minute and gave an early lead of 1-0. However, after three minutes (44th minute), Karnataka’s M D Raheel out-foxed opponent’s players and sent the ball into net to score an equaliser. His teammate Abharan Sudev scored the second goal for his team in the 53rd minute and increased the lead by 2-1. The Karnataka’s joy was short-lived as Mani stroke again and scored his second goal to bring the score-line at 2-2.

Results of the day-

Pool A Hockey Punjab 9 Ajit Pandit (20min- FG, 21min- FG, 33min- FG, 43min- FG), Harmanpreet Singh (29min- PC), Ajmer Singh (44min- FG, 49min- FG, 69min- FG), Sukhjeet Singh (58min- FG) vs Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 1 Shahbaz Uddin (31min- FG)

Pool A Services Sports Control Board 5 Bishram Dodray (5min- FG), Mohd Nadeem (25min- FG, 56min- FG), Harpreet Singh (32min- FG), Jograj (66min- PC) vs Hockey Maharashtra 1 Sangram Pokhale (41min- FG)

Pool B Hockey Odisha 4 Kunjan Topno (46min-FG), Sanjib Ekka (51min-FG), Prasant Tirkey (54min-FG), Nitin Mukesh Tigga (66min-FG) vs Hockey Bhopal 1 Mohd. Umar (16min-FG)

Pool B Manipur Hockey 2 Mani Huidrom (41min-FG, 55min-FG) vs Hockey Karnataka 2 M D Raheel (44min-FG), Abharan Sudev (53min-FG)