Punjab Games: Jalandhar, Ropar in hockey semifinals

JALANDHAR: Jalandhar and Ropar registered contrasting wins in the quarterfinal hockey matches in the first Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh Punjab Games at the Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium on Thursday.

Riding on a three-goal brilliant show by Akashdeep Singh, Jalandhar gave a hockey lesson to Faridkot by scoring half a dozen goals without any counterattack in the first quarterfinals. Akashdeep scored in the 25th, 47th and 50th minutes. Jasjeet Singh scored a brace in the 6th and 30th minutes. Gurvinder Singh Chandi again contributed one goal in the 37th minute.

In contrast, Ropar huffed and puffed before overcoming a never-say-die Patiala 4-3 in a closely fought quarterfinal match. For winners, Jaswinder Singh (11th), Gagandeep Singh (30th), Harminder (65th) and Jashanpreet (67th) scored a goal each. For Patiala, Jatinder Singh (9th), Kulbir Singh (44th) and Charandeep Singh (46th) reduced the margin but could not change the result.

In the women’s category, Patiala ousted Jalandhar 3-0 to enter semifinals. The scorers for were Ranjana (8th, 40th) and Ravneet Kaur (39th). Tarn Taran were streets ahead of their rivals in the medal tally with a haul of six golds, seven silvers and four bronze medals.