Madhya Pradesh defeated defending champion Haryana in the semi-finals of the Hockey India Sub-junior National Women’s Championship.
Madhya Pradesh girls defeated defending champions Haryana 3-2 in a closely contested quarterfinal, while last year’s runners-up Jharkhand advanced to the semifinals of the 14th Hockey India Sub-junior national women’s championship on Tuesday at RRC Ground in Hyderabad.
Haryana took the lead in the 13th minute as Diksha scored. However, the Madhya Pradesh girls rallied, with Sallu Pukhrambam scoring in the 34th minute to equalize.
Rubi Rathore converted a penalty corner for Madhya Pradesh 16 minutes later, making the score 2-1. However, the Haryana girls leveled the score in the 58th minute with Durga’s stick.
However, the Madhya Pradesh ladies, who have scored consistently throughout the competition, were in no mood to give up, scoring the winning goal in under a minute. Rubi converted another penalty corner to eliminate the champions from the tournament.
Leoni Hemrom sounded the boards five times, paving the way for Jharkhand’s overwhelming victory. After being kept on leash for the first two-quarters of the game, the Jharkhand girls went on a rampage in the final two quarters, winning 12-0.
The Maharashtra girls held their own in the opening two quarters, keeping the Jharkhand strikers at bay for the majority of the game until halftime. Leoni scored in the first minute of the game and added another in the 16th, sending Jharkhand into the interval 2-0.
However, things changed dramatically in the following two quarters, with Jharkhand scoring four and six goals to finish the thrashing. Shruti Kumari and Thekia Horo each scored a brace.
Uttar Pradesh, who finished fourth last year, lost 0-1 to Mizoram. Mizoram advanced to the final four following a penalty stroke convert by captain Laltlanchhungi in the 49th minute of the game.
