Odisha, Jharkhand in quarterfinals
Odisha and Jharkhand teams entered the quarterfinals of the 14th Hockey India Junior Men National Hockey Championship. As many as six matches of the league round were played on the fifth day of this championship, organised by Hockey Punjab, at the local Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium.
In the first match, Odisha defeated Arunachal Pradesh (8-0) and secured three points. Arodit Ekka scored two goals, Deepak Pradhan scored two goals, Wilson scored one goal, Karan Lakra scored one goal, Prem Dayal Giri scored one goal and Deonath Nanwar scored one goal for the winning team. This is Odisha team’s second win in the league round and they have now entered the quarterfinals.
In the second match, Dadra Nagar Haveli defeated Assam by 11-0. Pramod Paul scored a double hat-trick for the winning team, while Mohan Krishna scored two goals, Akash one, Ghansham Yadav one and Rudrasnu Maurya one.
In the third match, Andhra Pradesh won by defeating Kerala by 3-1. For Andhra Pradesh, Kumar Mita Sai scored one goal, Akhil Venkat one and Dodiam Subramaniam scored one goal, while for Kerala Mohammad Aslam scored one goal.
In the fourth match, Karnataka defeated Delhi (6-1) to get three points and keep their hopes of the quarterfinals alive. For the winning team, Sunil scored three goals, Jadav Pawan, Aryan Othappa and Dhruva scored one goal each. Sunil Kumar scored one goal for Delhi.
In the fifth match, Bengal beat Gujarat 3-0 to get three points. For Bengal, Rohit Khajur, Vivek Kumar Singh and Saqib Ali scored one goal each.
In the sixth match, the teams of Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu were tied with 1-1 goals. Both teams got one point each. The Jharkhand team entered the quarterfinals with four points after one win and a draw in the league matches.