Railways, Haryana, Jharkhand and Punjab qualify for Semi-finals in the 4th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2014 (A Division)

• Haryana to meet Jharkhand in the first Semi-final clash
• Railways to face formidable Punjab in the second match

Bhopal, 20 March 2014: Railways, Haryana, Jharkhand and Punjab qualified for the semi-finals of the ongoing 4th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2014 (A Division) here in Bhopal at Aish Bagh and MDC stadium. Now Haryana will meet Jharkhand in the first Semi-final and Punjab to take on Railways in the second semi final to be played this Saturday.


In a pool B match, Railways defeated Bihar with a massive goal difference of 24-0 including 20 Field Goals and four penalty corners. The first goal was scored by Rani in the 5th minute. Rani emerged as the highest scorer of the match scoring in the 8th, 34th, 46th and 62 minute. By half time, Railways had consolidated 11-0 lead over Bihar. Railways continued their dominance in the second half as well where they scored additional 13 goals to take the score further ahead to 24-0. Team Bihar failed to convert any of the opportunities into goals.

Poonam Rani was the second highest scorer in the match with four goals in the 25th, 35th, 53rd and 55th minute.  Vandana Kataria, Soundriya Y and Joydeep Kaur scored three goals each in the 9th, 19th and 51st minutes; 13th, 15th and 30th minute; 43rd, 64th and 65th minute respectively.

Haryana continues ruling the Pool A by beating Chattisgarh 12-0 which ended in a one sided game. This was Haryana’s 3rd consecutive win and the team is placed at the top of the points table. Navjot Kaur for Haryana stunned the opponents in the 3rd minute by hitting the first field goal for the team by cleverly penetrating through the defense of Chattisgarh. In the 7th minute Navneet Kaur scored the 2nd goal for the team and went on to convert another field goal within 3 minutes. In the 12th minute Haryana was leading 4-0, with the 4th goal getting converted by Bharti. Before going into the break the team struck another 2 back to back goals in the 16th and 19th minute with the session ending for Haryana leading with 6 goals to 0.
In the second half Haryana continued its dominance and started the session by scoring in the 36th minute and continued their goal scoring onslaught in the 37th and 38th minute taking the team to 9-0.  It was Navjot Kaur who scored 2 back to back goals in the 38th and 42nd minute and which were both field goals. In the 56th minute the team got a penalty strike, which was taken by Navneet Kaur and was converted successfully.

In another Pool A match, Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy defeated Hockey Odisha by 4-1. Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy played a matured game and maintained their lead in the first half of the game when Ramgaihzuali R scored a goal in the 25th minute. Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy maintained a 1-0 lead by the whistle for half time. In the second half, Hockey Odisha came under pressure gave a penalty corner to Madhaya Pradesh in the 43rd minute. The opportunity was ably converted into goal by Shyama Tidgam to give her team a 2-0 lead. Nilprojita Majhi from Hockey Odisha converted the much needed penalty corner in the 60th minute to give her team a breather; but they could not keep the momentum for long. Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy increased its attack and scored a field goal in the 66th minute through Ramgaihzuali R. taking her goal count to two. Shivani Singh converted penalty corner in the 66th minute to give her team a comfortable win over Hockey Odisha.

In a pool C match, Jharkhand had a comfortable win over Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd with 8-1 as the final score. All the goals scored in this match were field goals. Mumbai began aggressively by taking a lead in the 3rd minute of the game.  Team Jharkhand levelled the score in the 13th minute through Anima Minz. Roseline Dungdung scored other goals in the 25th minute to bring her team in a comfortable position of 3-1 in the first half. In the second half, Mumbai could not bounce back. Taking advantage of opponents’ position, Poonam Barla pierced in four more goals.

In another Pool C match, Hockey Bhopal edged past Sports Authority Of India in a rather stiff competition today by 3-1. Both the teams had managed pretty well to restrict each other from scoring any goals and saw a 0-0 on board till the first half of the match. It was only in the 56th minute that the match saw its first goal coming in from Rashmi Singh of Bhopal, which was immediately countered by Sports Authority Of India’s Sevanti Kushre in the 61st minute. Hockey Bhopal’s Ritusha Arya and Reena Katariya helped the team to wrap the match with a 3-1 win when they penetrated a goal each in the 64th and 66th minute of the game.
In another Pool D match, though Kerala drew the first blood, it was Karnataka who stole the show by 5-2 victory. It was Kerala’s Arunima Remanan who struck the very first of the match in the 27th minute which was replied to in the 32nd minute by Karnataka’s Muthamma P.G followed by Teena K.R’s in the 34th minute of the game. By the end of the first half, it was a close fight where Karnataka took the lead by 2-1. The second half saw a more confident Karnataka piercing in three more goals with the help of Kavyashree S.P, Ranjitha A.K and Nandini B.P in 40th, 29th and 51st minute, respectively. Kerala could only manage to cut down on the goal difference through Maria Susan Jose’s field goal in the 65th minute.

Results of the day-

• POOL B – Railways Sports Promotion Board 24 Rani (5, 8, 34, 46 and 62 min), Poonam Rani (25, 35, 53 and 55 min), Vandana Kataria (9, 19 and 51 min), Soundriya Y (13, 15 and 30 min), Joydeep Kaur (43, 64 and 65 min) and Deepika (22 and 58 min), Th. Chanchan (52 and 69 min), Anupa Barla (59 min), Jasjeet Kaur (37 min), Vs. Hockey Bihar 0
• POOL A – Hockey Haryana 13 Navneet Kaur (7, 10, 36 and 56 min), Navjot Kaur (3, 38 and 42), Rajni (37 and 68), Monika (53 min), Supreet (13 min) Bharti (12 min) and Sonika (16 min) Vs. Chhattisgarh Hockey 0
• POOL A Madhya Pradesh Hockey AcademyHockey Academy 4 Ramgaihzuali R (25 and 66 min), Shyama Tidgam (43 min) and Shivani Singh (68 min) Vs Hockey Odisha 1 Nilprojita Majhi (60 min)
• POOL C Hockey Jharkhand 8 Binita Xess (13 min), Anima Minz (21 min), Roseline Dungdung (25, 60 min), Poonam Barla (57, 63, 65 and 67) Vs Mumbai Hockey Association 1 Nishi Singh (3 min)
• POOL C Bhopal 3  Rashmi Singh (56 min), Ritusha Arya (64 min) and Reena Kataria (66 min) Vs. Sports Authority Of India 1 Sevanti Kushre (61 min).
• POOL D Karnataka 5 Muthamma P.G (32 min), Teena K.R (34 min), Kavyashree S.P (40 min), Ranjitha A.K (49 min) and Nandini B.P (51 min) Vs. Kerala 2 Arunima Remanan (27 min) and Maria Susan Jose (65 min).

Tomorrow's Scedule:

• 1400 HRS S.F. 1 HARYANA V/s JHARKHAND
• 1600 HRS S.F. 2 RAILWAYS V/s PUNJAB