Haryana, Punjab ease into semis

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 17

Hockey Haryana drubbed Hockey Jharkhand 11-1 to ease into the semifinals the 2nd Hockey India five-a-side Senior National Championship for Women at the Pune’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Stadium here today.

Navneet Kaur (2nd, 17th, 26th), Monika (3rd, 8th, 24th) and Udita (6th, 24th, 25th) scored hat-tricks for Haryana, while captain Rani (11th) and Ritu Rani (20th) chipped in with a goal each. 

Simta Ming scored the only goal for Hockey Jharkhand in the 13th minute.

In the semifinal, Haryana girls will face Uttar Pradesh which overcame Hockey Karnataka 5-3 in the quarterfinals. 

Punjab girls dump Odisha 

Earlier, Punjab displayed some great skills to dump Hockey Odisha 6-1 in the first quarterfinal match of the day. 

Punjab scored four goals in the first period to stamp their authority on the match. Hockey Odisha reduced the deficit in the second period as they made some desperate attempts to stage a comeback. But the experienced Punjab girls scored two more goals in the third period to take the tally to 6-1 and ensured the side a place in the semifinals, where they will meet hosts Maharashtra. 

Pooja Rani struck thrice (4th, 7th, 26th), while Reena Rani scored a brace (10th, 28th) for Punjab. Gurpreet Kaur (5th) also added a goal to the tally. 

Elima Minz (19th) was the only scorer for Hockey Odisha. — TNS