14th Hockey India Women National C’ship: UP, Jharkhand play out thriller draw

Pune (Maharashtra) [India], March 15 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh Hockey and Hockey Jharkhand played out a thrilling draw on Day 2 of the 14th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship on Thursday at Major Dhyanchand Hockey Stadium Pimpri in Pune. At the same time, Hockey Madhya Pradesh, Hockey Telangana and Hockey Bengal won their respective matches.

Uttar Pradesh Hockey and Hockey Jharkhand played out a thrilling draw in their Pool C game with the score reading 2-2 at full-time. Hockey Jharkhand found the back of the net first with Indian Team midfielder Salima Tete (15′) scoring a field goal at the end of the first quarter.

They went on to double their lead when Reshma Soreng (19′) converted a penalty corner as the first half ended with Hockey Jharkhand’s two goals in front.

The game was far from over as Uttar Pradesh Hockey reduced the deficit to one goal after a penalty corner conversion from Indian Team forward Mumtaz Khan (34′) in the third quarter before Bano Hina (47′) converted yet another penalty corner early in the final quarter to equalize.

With both teams coming close to taking the decisive lead, but neither being able to break through each other’s defence, the game ended in a draw with the score reading 2-2 and the two teams earning one point each from the game.

Earlier in the day, defending Champions Hockey Madhya Pradesh defeated Hockey Bihar 7-1 in Pool A. Hritika Singh (45′, 50′, 60′) scored a hat-trick while Aishwarya Chavan (6′) for Hockey Madhya Pradesh, Preeti Dubey (9′), Kanchan Nidhi Kerketta (32′) and Hockey Madhya Pradesh Captain and Indian Team defender Ishika Chaudhary (33′) scored a goal each for their team.

The solitary goal for Hockey Bihar came from the stick of Ebha Kerketta in the final quarter as Hockey Madhya Pradesh went on to top Pool A and qualified for the knockouts.

In the third game of the day, Telangana Hockey defeated Hockey Gujarat 12-0. Telangana Hockey Captain Edula Jyothi (24′, 26′, 27′) led from the front with a hat-trick, Sri Chandana Gandhapu (9′, 37′), Harleen Kour Sardarni (14′, 47′) and Preethi Dharla (25′, 57′) scored braces while Anusha Chekkala (44′), Akhila Mandla (45′) and Varshitha Muppala (56′) scored a goal each for Telangana Hockey.

The fourth game of the day saw Hockey Bengal defeat the Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu 2-0 in their Pool H game. The two goals for Hockey Bengal were field goals that came from Sushmita Gandha (21′) and Sushmita Panna (38′) in the second and third quarters respectively as they went on to win the game without conceding any goals.