Host Uttar Pradesh enters the semi finals along with Railway Sports Promotion Board in the 4th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship 2014 (Division A)

• Uttar Pradesh defeats Bhopal 6-1
• Air India Sports Promotion Board beat Chandigarh Olympic Association 3-0
• Hockey Karnataka overcome Hockey Jharkhand 7-2
• Hockey Haryana Vs. Railway Sports Promotion Board match drew 2-2
• Comptroller & Auditor General Of India beat Manipur 8-1
• Sports Authority of India beat Madhya Pradesh 2-1

Lucknow 16 March 2014: Uttar Pradesh and Railway Sports Promotion Board today proved their mettle and hence enter the semi-finals of the 4th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship 2014 (Division A), with their heads held high.

On a winning streak, the unstoppable Uttar Pradesh today recorded their fourth consecutive win in the 4th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship 2014 (Division A) as they defeated Bhopal with an astounding 6 goals to 1.

In a pool C match, played between Uttar Pradesh and Bhopal, the undefeated Uttar Pradesh bagged yet another victory in the championship today and defeated the latter 6-1. Diwakar Ram's goals scoring spree for the team today started as early as in the 5th minute of the game, followed by his second in 18th minute and ended with piercing the last the goal of the match in the 63rd minute. Alternatively, Bhopal's Nadeem Uddin managed to sneak in just one goal in the 51st minute of the game and failed to put up a tough fight against the yet-to-be-defeated Uttar Pradesh. With today's 6-1 victory, host Uttar Pradesh remains the undefeated team in the championship.

In a Pool A match, Air India Sports Promotion Board dominated and registered a win by 3-0 over Chandigarh Olympic Association. Both the teams gave each other a good fight in the first half of the game but a successful penalty corner conversion by Captain Probodh Tirkey in the 30th minute gave Air India sports Promotion Board a much needed edge over Chandigarh Olympic Association in. Armaan Qureshi and Vinod Vishnu of Air India sports Promotion Board took the lead further ahead in the second half the game by scoring a field goal each in the 60th and 62nd minute, respectively and registered a 3-0 win over Chandigarh Olympic Association.

In another Pool C match, Hockey Karnataka defeated Hockey Jharkhand 7-2. Where both the teams managed to hold each other back pretty well from scoring any goals in the first half of the match. The tables turned in favour of Hockey Karnataka in the second half when majority of Hockey Karnataka's the players started sneaking and stroking goals one after the other from the 41st minute till 62nd minute of the game. Pradhan Somana P. of Hockey Karnataka was the only player who  stroked in two goals for the team in the 42nd and 58th minute and the rest followed the trail with one goal each, such as Biju B.Y. in the 41st minute, Captain Mudappa M.K. in 43rd minute and so on. Hockey Jharkhand showed some sign of life while nearing the end of the match when Chandan Aind and Prakash Kerketta sneaked one goal each in the 63rd and the 68th minute, but the comeback timing was a bit too late and hence Hockey Jharkhand lost the game to Hockey Karnataka by 7-2.

Pool D match, between Hockey Haryana and Railway Sports Promotion Board witnessed a sturdy fight and the match tied at 2-2. Though the first half of the match saw Railway Sports Promotion Board dominating the game by 1-0 lead with the help of Belsajar Horo's field goal in the 14th minute of the game, Hockey Haryana's Shivdeep and Damandeep stroked in rebellious field goals in the 38th and the 46th minute and turned the game in Hockey Haryana's favour. The last crucial field goal of the match came from Vinod Kumar Singh of Railway Sports Promotion Board in the 56th minute of the game and helped save the honor and tied the match at 2-2 and carved their way in to the semi-finals.

In another match of Pool B, Comptroller & Auditor General Of India thrashed Manipur by a magnificent 8-1 victory. Deepanshu Bhargav, Siddharth Shanker and Captain Mahendra Kumawat of  Comptroller & Auditor General Of India were head strong on taking the lead from the first half of the match itself as they stroked in a goal each in 1st, 22nd and 32nd minute of the game. the Second half of the game saw another goal coming through Captain Mahendra Kumawat in the 37th minute and another two goals added by Siddharth Shanker in the 47th and 52nd minute. Captain Jayenta Meitei .K of Manipur managed to pierce a goal in the 45th minute but was of no match to the squad of Comptroller & Auditor General Of India and lost the game by a huge margin of 8-1.

In the last match of the day Sports Authority of India clashed against Madhya Pradesh. Both the teams gave a tough contest to each other in the entire match. At the end of the first half both the teams were 1-1 and it was anyone’s game in the second half. both the teams got a few chances bit failed t convert. In the 52nd minute it was Manish Bishnoi who took it one himself and took his team to a lead of 2 goals to one which he scored through a Field Goal.

Today’s Result

• Pool C- Uttar Pradesh 6  Diwarkar Ram (5, 18 and 63 min), Hamza Mujtaba (46 min), Tushar Khandker (55 min) and Sunil Yadav (57 min) vs Bhopal 1 Nadeem Uddin (51 min).
• Pool A- Air India Sports Promotion Board 3 Probodh Tirkey (30min), Armaan Qureshi (60 min) and Vinod Vishnu (62 min) vs Chandigarh Sports Association 0.
• Pool C- Hockey Karnataka 7 Pradhan Somanna P. (42 and 58 min), Biju B.Y (41 min), Mudappa M.K (43 min), Kusha J.P (48 min), Thimmanna P.L (54 min) and Somanna C.K (62 min) vs Hockey Jharkhand 2 Chandan Aind (63 min) and Prakash Kerketta (68 min).
• Pool D- Haryana 2 Shivdeep (38 min) and Damandeep (46 min) vs Railway Sports Promotion Board 2 Belsaraj Horo (14 min) and Vinod Kumar Singh (56 min)
• Pool B- Comptroller & Auditor General Of India 8 Deepanshu Bhargav (1 min), Siddharth Shanker  (22, 47 and 52 min), Mahendra Kumawat (32 and 37 min), Darshan D.S (49 min) and Balwinder Singh (61 min) vs Manipur 1 Jayenta Meitei .K (45 min). 
• Pool B Sports Authority of India 2 Ashok (10 min), Manish Bishnoi (52 min) Madhya Pradesh 1 Nilakanta Sharma (25 min)

Tomorrow’s line-up – 17/3/2014

• 0700 HRS A ASSOCIATION OF INDIAN UNIVERSITIES V/s HOCKEY ANDHRA PRADESH
• 0830 HRS A AIR INDIA SPORTS PROMOTION BOARD V/s SERVICES SPORTS CONTROL BOARD
• 1000 HRS C HOCKEY ODISHA V/s HOCKEY BHOPAL
• 1430 HRS B MADHYA PRADESH HOCKEY ACADEMY V/s COMPTROLLER & AUDITOR GENERAL OF INDIA
• 1600 HRS B HOCKEY PUNJAB V/s SPORTS AUTHORITY OF INDIA