Haryana, UP in final

Special Correspondent

Defending champion Haryana recorded an emphatic 5-1 win over Karnataka while Uttar Pradesh outplayed Mumbai 5-0 in the semifinals of the 39th National women’s (under-20) hockey championship, organised by the Indian Hockey Federation, here on Tuesday.

Haryana was clearly the dominant side and took the lead in the fourth minute when an alert Reena Devi latched on to a quick minus from captain Narinder Kaur to find the target. Within two minutes, Reena was in the thick of things again when her rasping drive deflected off a defender’s stick and into the goal.

Splendid solo

Skipper Narinder Kaur’s splendid solo made it 3-0 at half-time.

In the second session, the Karnataka girls showed some enterprise upfront and earned a couple of penalty corners. These were, however, wasted.

Just when Karnataka looked like making a fight of it, Haryana widened the margin through a brace from full-back Rajni. Though Sushma scored in the second session, it was too little too late for Karnataka.

In the other semifinal, Uttar Pradesh, which shocked last edition’s runner-up Punjab in the quarterfinal, romped to victory against Mumbai.

Deepika Rani’s drive, from an acute angle, deflected off a defender to give UP the lead. Aakriti Choudhary then struck thrice to dash whatever hopes Mumbai had of coming back into the game. Captain Kavita Mourya and Seema Bharti converted a penalty corner each to complete the tally.

The results: Semifinals: Haryana 5 (Reena Devi 2, Rajni 2, Narinder Kaur) bt Karnataka 1 (C.G. Sushma 1); UP 5 (Aakriti Choudhary 3, Kavita Mourya, Seema Bharti) bt Mumbai 0.

Quarterfinal: Haryana 7 (Reena Rani 2, Udita 2, Narinder Kaur 2, Mamta 1) bt Hyderabad 1 (M. Ruchika 1).