Saifai (Uttar Pradesh), 03 May 2015: The tournament concluded with a win for Railway Sports Promotion Board who clinched the title of the 5th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2015 (Division A) by defeating Hockey Jharkahnd with a huge margin of 12-2 at Saifai, Uttar Pradesh today. Whereas, Hockey Punjab settled for the bronze medal by beating Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 2-0.

In the finals played between Railway Sports Promotion Board and Hockey Jharkhand, Railway Sports Promotion Board declared an obvious win with an extremely impressive goal margin of 12-2 and clinched the title of the 5th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2015 (Division A). The goals started raining in favour of Railway Sports Promotion Board as early as in the third minute of the game coming through a penalty corner conversion by Sunita Lakra which was followed by Deep Grace Ekka who struck a fourth minute goal and took the lead to 2-0. Hockey Jharkhand was in no mood to sit back and relax and it was Birsi Mundu who opened the team’s score card in the fifth minute. The match saw intense action coming from both the sides in the initial minutes as Sunita Lakra again efficiently converted a penalty corner in the seventh minute and took the lead at 3-1. Trailing by three goals, Hockey Jharkhand’s retaliated through Anima Minz who placed herself perfectly and slapped the nets in the tenth minute and scored the second goal for her team. Hockey Jharkahnd was in a dire need of scoring more such goals but stood unsuccessful. However, going by the same momentum, Railway Sports Promotion Board’s Lilima Minz and Soundaraya Yendala shared a brace and scored two goals each which further added two goals to make a tally of 7 goals. This did not stop here and Railway Sports Promotion Board added 4 more goals to its account which concluded the match in their favour who very proudly lifts the title of the 5thHockey India Senior Women National Championship 2015 (Division A).

In a hard line match, claiming the third position, Hockey Punjab sealed the match in its favour by defeating Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 2-0. The match between the two teams went on an interesting clash were both the teams were looking at striking early but it was Hockey Punjab got its breakthrough in the early second minute of the game through Hardeep Kaur’s field effort. As Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy were unable to capitalize on any scoring opportunities in the first half, the scores stood at 1-0 in favour of Hockey Punjab. In the second half, Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy were determined to level the scores but Hockey Punjab eventually turned the table in its favour when Reena Rani converted a penalty corner and netted a goal in the 55th minute taking the lead at 2-0. Since Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy was unable to net a goal throughout the match, it left them empty handed without any goal score and Hockey Punjab claimed a comfortable win over Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 2-0.

Results of the day –

3rd /4th Position- Hockey Punjab 2 Hardeep Kaur (2min- FG), Reena Rani (55min- PC) vs Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 0

Finals – Railway Sports Promotion Board 12 Sunita Lakra (3min- PC, 7min- PC), Deep Grace Ekka (4min- PC), Lilima Minz (20min- FG, 33min-FG), Soundaraya Yendala (37min- FG, 41min- FG, 48min- FG), Manmeet Kaur (44min- FG), Anuradha Devi Th (49min- FG), Anupa Barla (51min- FG), Punam Barla (55min- FG) vs Hockey Jharkhand 2 Birsi Mundu (5min- FG), Anima Minz (10min- FG)