Hockey Odisha & Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy registers second consecutive win in the 4th Hockey India Junior Women National Championship 2014 (Division A)

• Hosts Karnataka mark their first win, defeats Hockey Bhopal 4-1
• Hockey Odisha trounce Punjab 3-0
• Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy storms ahead of Delhi 5-0
• Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd defeats Bihar 7-0

Mysore 19 March 2014: Karnataka tastes their first win as they defeated Hockey Bhopal with a proficient 4-1 in Pool B of the 4th Hockey India Junior Women National Championship 2014 (Division A) played at Chamundi Vihar Hockey Ground today.

Karnataka played a well strategized game today, as in the first half of the game they kept switching their stance between attack and defense. It was Karnataka’s Ramya N. who stroked in the first goal for the team just a minute before the end of the first half in the 34th minute and helped the team take a 1-0 lead till the half time. Whereas, the second half of the match saw Karnataka on an attacking spree and pierced in a total of three goals in just eight minutes, coming through Sushma C.G in the 43rd min, Captain Sandhya H.P in the 47th minute and lastly Niha’s field goal in the 50th minute which took the team’s goal margin to an attractive 4-0. Bhopal’s Puja Yadav opened the account for the team in the 56th minute and tried to put up a challenge for the opponents but failed to bag any further goals. Karnataka’s well planned strategy helped the team overcome their last defeat against Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy yesterday and triumph over Hockey Bhopal today by 4-1.

In a Pool D match, Hockey Odisha registered their second win in a row, as they defeated defeated Punjab 3-0. Hockey Odisha took the control of the match from the 9th minute itself, when Captain Ambika Toppo converted a motivating penalty corner and opened the account for the team. The second goal for Hockey Odisha was followed through Ashmita Barla in the 33rd minute, coming in again as a successful penalty corner conversion. The last goal of the match came through Sarojini Ekka of Hockey Odisha as a field goal in the 54th minute of the game. Alternatively, Punjab’s repeated attempts failed to budge Hockey Odisha and ultimately lost the game with a fateful 3-0 on board. The repeated errors by Punjab cost the game with which the road to semi-finals for the team has almost come to an end.

In another match of Pool D, Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy overcame Delhi 5-0 to register their second consecutive win. Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy’s Rakhi Prajapati dunked in two goals for the team in the 8th and 25th minute of the game and helped the team take a comfortable 2-0 lead by the end of the first half. Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy pounced on with three more goals with the help of Anuja Singh’s two in 54th and 66th min and Preeti Dubey’s one field goal in 61st min, Delhi failed to impress in the second half as well and lost the game by 5-0.

In another Pool D match, Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd crushed Bihar with a whooping 7-0 victory. In the first half of the match Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd dominated with a decent 2-0 lead, but went all out in the second half of the match and sliced in five more goals to register their win over Bihar with a difference of 7 goals to 0. Both Pranali Patil and Shaikh Ruqqaiya of Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd pocketed two goals each in the 3rd & 60th minute and 52nd & 66th minute of the game respectively. Bihar’s struggle to attack and defend, both turned out to be unproductive and resulted in an embarrassing 7-0 loss.

Results of the day

• POOL B – Karnataka 4 Ramya .N (34 min), Sushma C.G (43 min), Sandhya H.P (47 min) and Niha (50 min) Vs. Bhopal 1 Puja Yadav (56 min).
• Pool D – Odisha 3 Ambika Toppo (9 min), Ashmita Barla (33 min) and Sarojini Ekka (54 min) Vs. Punjab 0.
• Pool B – Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 5 Rakhi Prajapati (8 and 25 min), Anuja Singh (54 and 66 min) and Preeti Dubey (61 min) Vs. Delhi 0.
• Pool D - Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd 7 Pranali Patil (3 and 60 min), Shaikh Ruqqaiya (52 and 66 min), Preeti Bhatia (32 min), Jemimah Rodrigues (41 min) and Akansha Singh (50 min) Vs. Bihar 0.

SCHEDULE FOR TOMORROW - 

• 0700 HRS (POOL B) MADHYA PRADESH HOCKEY ACADEMY V/s HOCKEY BHOPAL
• 0830 HRS (POOL B) HOCKEY KARNATAKA V/s HOCKEY DELHI
• 1430 HRS (POOL D) HOCKEY PUNJAB V/s HOCKEY BIHAR
• 1600 HRS (POOL D) MUMBAI HOCKEY ASSOCIATION LTD V/s HOCKEY ODISHA