Sr. Men Hockey C'ship: Chandigarh, Punjab reach quarters

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 21 (ANI): Chandigarh booked their place in the quarter-finals of the 8th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship 2018 (A Division) after registering a comfortable 2-0 win over Central Reserve Police Force in their Pool D clash at the Padma Shri Mohammad Shahid Synthetic Hockey Stadium here last evening.

By clinching their second win of the competition, Chandigarh finished second with six points while Central Reserve Police Force kept their top spot with a tally of seven points.

Amandeep found the back of the net to give Chandigarh a one-goal lead in the 37th minute which was then doubled in the 56th minute as Damanjit Singh converted a Penalty Corner.

Central Reserve Police Force tried to make a comeback in the closing stages of the match but they were kept out by some outstanding display of defense from Chandigarh resulting in a comfortable 2-0 victory for them.

In the other Pool D match, Comptroller and Auditor General of India continued to top the Pool with eight points as they defeated Namdhari XI 2-1 in a close encounter. It was a well-fought match between the two sides as Comptroller and Auditor General of India took a 2-0 lead after 31 minutes. Goals for Comptroller and Auditor General of India were scored by Imran Khan (23') & Nithin Thimmaiah (31').

Whereas, Namdhari XI tried to make a comeback with some attacking display to notch a goal in the 47th minute through Sher Singh making the scoreline 2-1 but they could not score again as the match ended at 2-1.

In Pool B, Punjab and Sind Bank also secured a quarter-final berth as they defeated Jharkhand by a scoreline of 4-0. Punjab and Sind Bank dominated the match from the very beginning as they opened the scoring through Gursahibjit Singh in the 6th minute.Jharkhand could not stop their opponents as the goals came thick and fast for Punjab and Sind Bank. Ashishpal Sharma (18'), Gaganpreet Singh (43') and Geet Kumar (45') were the goal scorers for Punjab and Sind Bank.

The win for Punjab and Sind Bank means that they finish the Pool with eight points and on the second spot while Jharkhand remained win-less in the competition.

In another Pool B match, Air India Sports Promotion Board defeated Haryana by 3-1 to secure their third win of the tournament and advance to the quarter-final as the top-placed team in their Pool with a tally of 10 points. T

The match saw Air India Sports Promotion Board take an early lead in the sixth minute as Mohd. Faraz converted a Penalty Corner. Mohd. Raheel scored a goal in the 11th minute to make the scoreline 2-0 in Air India Sports Promotion Board's favour while Haryana tried to made a comeback in the 40th minute with Jonny Jasrotia finding the back of the net. However, a second goal from Mohd. Raheel saw Air India Sports Promotion Board secure a 3-1 victory.

In Pool C, Punjab and Petroleum Sports Promotion Board played a 2-2 draw which saw both the teams advance to the quarter-finals of the competition. Punjab scored two goals in the first 16 minutes to take a commanding lead but Petroleum Sports Promotion Board came back into the match and cancelled out the lead with a goal each in the third and fourth quarters.

Goals for Punjab were scored by Harsahib Singh (11') and Gurvinder Singh Chandi (16') while VR Raghunath (39') and Tyron Pereira (56') scored for Petroleum Sports Promotion Board. The draw saw Punjab finish with a tally of eight points from their four matches while Petroleum Sports Promotion Board accumulated 10 points.

In the other Pool C match, it was Karnataka who defeated The Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd 5-2 to finish third in the Pool with a tally of six points while the latter endured a difficult campaign as they only accumulated two points from their four matches. Karnataka scored first in the match as Mani Kanta Venkateswarlu found the back of the net in the 23rd minute but The Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd made a comeback and scored two goals in the span of nine minutes to take a 2-1 lead.

However, four goals in the last quarter meant that Karnataka ran away with a 5-2 win with the goals scored by KR Umesha (48', 51'), M Rajendra (54') and skipper DS Darshan (60') while Roshan Keisham (26') and Mohd Nizamuddin (35') scored the goals for The Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd.

In Pool A, Railway Sports Promotion Board scored a convincing 4-0 win against Hockey Bhopal to maintain a 100% record in the competition as they accumulated 12 points from their four matches while the latter could not manage to qualify for the quarter-finals as they only secured three points.

Railway Sports Promotion Board's Karanpal Singh (10', 17') scored two early goals while Sheshe Gowde (34') continued his good form in the competition. Rajin Kandulna's goal in the 36th minute secured all the three points for Railway Sports Promotion Board.

In another Pool A match, it was Odisha who secured their position in the quarter-finals as they beat Uttar Pradesh by a scoreline of 4-2 in a must-win match for both the teams. Odisha took a 2-0 lead inside the first 25 minutes of the match, but Uttar Pradesh tried to make a comeback as they pulled a goal back through Ajay Yadav in the 41st minute.

However, Odisha's efforts saw them score twice more in the last quarter while Uttar Pradesh could only score once as the match ended 4-2 in Hockey Odisha's favour. Goals for Hockey Odisha were scored by Prasan Tirkey (15', 55'), Nitin Mukesh Tigga (25') and Prasad Kujur (46') while Gopi Sonkar (51') scored the second goal for Uttar Pradesh.(ANI)