Mumbai to meet Punjab in U-17 National hockey title clash

MUMBAI: Mumbai rode roughshod over Rajasthan to score a thumping 8-0 victory and enter the final of the under 17 boys’ National Hockey Championship conducted under the aegis of the Indian Hockey Federation on Tuesday.

Mumbai, who led 4-0 at the half-way stage of the one-sided semifinal, would meet Punjab in the final on Wednesday at the MHA-Mahindra Stadium.

Punjab recorded a 2-1 victory over Karnataka in the other semifinal in which they led 2-0 at the breather.

The goal-getters for Mumbai in their resounding victory over Rajasthan were Nikhil Pujary (3), Jarryd Nunes (2), Ganendrajt Ranjit, Anup Valmiki and Moses Pullanthara, who scored a goal each.

In the Punjab-Karnataka clash, the former took a 2-0 lead through goals from Karan Kumar, off a penalty corner, and Navraj Singh late in the first half.

Karnataka fought back well in the second half to reduce the margin through S A Basavaraj in the 53rd minute and then missed quite a few gilt-edged chances to make their exit.

Mumbai were too good for their rivals. In fact, they forced six penalty corners, five of which were squandered, and restricted their rivals to just fleeting glimpses of their own goal area.

The hosts combined beautifully to rip apart the rival defence without trouble and the pick of the lot were Pujary, Valmiki and Nunes.