Hockey Jharkhand edge past Hockey Karnataka 6-1

Players marched ahead in the tournament with exciting clashes at the ongoing 5th Senior National Hockey Championship 2015 (Women) Division ‘A’

- Hockey Jharkhand edge past Hockey Karnataka 6-1
- Uttar Pradesh Hockey drubs Assam Hockey with an excellent 8-1
- Hockey Punjab outwits Hockey Bhopal 4-2
- The Mumbai Hockey Association blanks Kerala Hockey 11-0

Saifai (Uttar Pradesh), 28 April 2015: Continuing their campaign on a winning note, the favourites of the 5th Senior National Hockey Championship 2015 (Women) Division 'A' showcased incredible talent today in order to retain top position in the pool phase.

The first match drew in favour of Hockey Jharkhand who outclassed Hockey Karnataka 6-1. This was followed by another clash between Uttar Pradesh Hockey and Assam Hockey where the former beat the latter with 8-1 on the score boards. The third game of the day settled on a victory for Hockey Punjab who trounced Hockey Bhopal 4-2. And the day concluded on a win for The Mumbai Hockey Association who blanked Kerala Hockey with a huge goal margin of 11-0.

The first match of the day saw Hockey Jharkhand dominating the fragile Hockey Karnataka and winning the game 6-1. The match began on a high with the two teams challenging each others' defence and trying to sneak-in a goal to attain a lead in the game. It was Hockey Jharkhand who started their scoring campaign as early as in the second minute of the game through Birsi Mundu. Looking in search of an equaliser, Hockey Karnataka banked a field goal through the very efficient Muthamma PG who levelled the scores at 1-1 in the 17th minute with a field effort. Showing her confident side, Birsi Mundu doubled the lead to 2-1 and scored the third goal for Hockey Jharkhand in the 22nd minute. Hockey Jharkhand was seen putting in its best efforts to maintain the lead as Sabnam Lakra notched the third goal for her team in the 25th minute which was closely followed by beautiful penalty corner conversion by Etwari Mundu in the 29th minute taking the lead to 4-1. This time again with the support of Birsi Mundu and Sabnam Lakra, Hockey Jharkhand pierced the defence of Hockey Karnataka in the 43rd and 57th minute which concluded the game in the favour of Hockey Jharkhand who trounced Hockey Karnataka 6-1.

The second match of the day concluded with a rejoicing victory for Uttar Pradesh Hockey as they pulled down Assam Hockey with an excellent leading score 8-1. The sequence of goals by Uttar Hockey commenced when they won their first field goal which was struck by Pratibha Chudhary in the 19th minute of the game. This was just the beginning as there were many more shots to come from Uttar Pradesh Hockey, the second one again being a field goal by Reena Devi in the 25th minute. Assam Hockey were seen striving in the best possible manner to get into their first goal, however, it was yet again Reena Devi from Uttar Pradesh Hockey who scored another field goal for the team in the 34th minute of the game and concluded the first half of the game in favour of Uttar Pradesh Hockey with a score 2-0. The proceedings in the second half were again started by Uttar Pradesh Hockey when Pratibha Chaudhary for the second time scored a field goal in the 36th minute which boosted the confidence of the team. It was only after an intense struggle that Assam Hockey opened their account with a field goal by Moully Yadav in the 42nd minute. However, this was not enough to bring down the tempo of Hockey Uttar Pradesh as there was one goal after another being struck by Uttar Pradesh Hockey hereafter. It was in the 44th minute that Srishti Singh maintaining the consistency of brilliant skills of Uttar Pradesh hockey smashed a beautiful field goal in the 44th minute. The remaining few minutes were also dominated by Uttar Pradesh Hockey with a penalty corner been converted in the 48th minute by Kavita Maurya followed by another field goal by Pooja Kundu in the 54th minute. With another penalty corner been converted by Sadhana Singh in the 59th minute, Uttar Pradesh Hockey announced their astounding victory for the day.

The third match of the day witnessed Hockey Punjab and Hockey Bhopal giving a tough time to each other as the two looked out for chances to score, restricting the opposite team from entering their D. However, the match resulted in favour of Hockey Punjab who defeated Hockey Bhopal with a score of 4-2. The game saw intense action coming from the side of Hockey Punjab who took the early lead through Pooja Rani's field effort in the very first two minutes of the game. Looking at equalizing Hockey Bhopal registered the must sort after goal from a penalty corner conversion in the 32nd minute from Rashmi Singh. The half time scores were levelled at 1-1. Coming into the second half Hockey Punjab went on a high scoring the second goal in the 38th minute as Gurjit Kaur slapped the ball into the nets leaving the opponents stunned. Scoring a brace for her team, Navpreet Kaur surged ahead in the 52nd and 57th minute and escalated the lead to 4-1. This did not shatter the hopes of Hockey Bhopal as Pragya Maourya scored the second goal for her team in the 58th minute through a penalty corner conversion which reduced the margin to 2-4. With this, the game sealed the fate of both the teams as Hockey Punjab drubbed Hockey Bhopal 4-2.

The Mumbai Hockey Association had a field day against Kerala Hockey as they went on to beat them 11-0. It was Navneet Kaur's five individual goals helped the team take such a huge win. Navneet even has to her name hat-trick scored in the 16th 26th and 30th minute. The Mumbai Hockey Association started the proceedings as early as the 9th minute when Pinky Thokchom capitalized on the early penalty corner given to the team. The opening goal was immediately followed by a hat-trick by Navneet Kaur as she successfully scored in the 16th, 26th and 30th minute leaving the opponents stunned and took the score to 4-0. The second half continued with The Mumbai Hockey Association continuing their onslaught as they registered goals at regular intervals. Minute 31st and 36th minute was marked by a brace by Nishi Singh, taking the scorecard to 6-0. Before the end of game, The Mumbai Hockey Association added four more goals before they declared the win at 11-0.

Results of the Day

Pool C Hockey Jharkhand 6 Birsi Mundu (2min- FG, 22min- FG, 43min- FG), Sabnam Lakra (25min- FG, 57min- FG), Etwari Mundu (29min- PC) vs Hockey Karnataka 1 Muthamma PG (17min- FG)

Pool C Hockey Uttar Pradesh Hockey 8 Pratibha Chaudhary (19 min-FG, 36min-FG) Renna Devi (25min-FG,34min -FG)Srishti Singh (44 min-FG), Kavita Maurya (48 min), Pooja Kundu ( 54 min-FG) Sadhana Singh (59min-PC) vs Assam Hockey 1 Moully Yadav (42 min-PC)

Pool D Hockey Punjab 4 Pooja Rani (2min- FG), Gurjit Kaur (38min- FG), Navpreet Kaur (52min- FG, 57min- FG) vs Hockey Bhopal 2 Rashmi Singh (32min- PC), Pragya Maourya (58min- PC)

Pool D The Mumbai Hockey Association 11 Pinky Thokchom (9 min-PC), Navneet Kaur (16 min-FG, 26 min-FG, 30 min-FG, 43 min-FG, 57 min-FG), Nishi Singh (31 min-FG, 36 min-FG), Rituta Rijutai (54 min-FG), Jaswinder Kaur (56 min-FG), Bhagyashree Agarwal (58 min-FG) vs Kerala Hockey 0

Schedule (29 April 2015)