Jharkhand made it to the semifinals of the Hockey India Sub-junior Women’s National Championship after they beat Punjab 5-1 in the quarterfinal at the Khuman Lampak Hockey Stadium in Imphal on Thursday.
The three other teams which made it to the last-four stage are Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. In the quarterfinals, Haryana beat Mizoram 4-1, Uttar Pradesh handed a 5-0 defeat to Chandigarh and Madhya Pradesh earned a narrow 2-1 win over Maharashtra. The semifinals will be held on Saturday.
In the last match of the day, Jharkhand took the lead early on as Nisha Minj found the target in the 14th minute of the match. Punjab, who scored a total of 35 goals in their two Pool G matches, tried their best to find the equalizer but it was Jharkhand who struck once again in the second quarter.
First Binima Dhan made it 2-0 in the 24th. Two minutes later Sweety Dungdung made it 3-0 as the Punjab defenders looked clueless.
After the second half began, Punjab were finally awarded for their efforts as Lakhvir Kaur scored in the 40th minute to reduce the lead. But Jharkhand’s defence held on after that and didn’t let Punjab score any more.
On the other hand, Jharkhand forwards kept putting pressure on Punjab’s backline and scored two more goals in the last quarter. In the 50th minute, Nisha scored her second of the match to make 4-1. Binima then scored in the last minute of the game to help Jharkhand wrap up the game with ease.
Earlier in the day, Haryana’s Pooja (23’, 36’) bagged a brace, while Shashi Khasa (54’) and Riya (56’) netted a goal each as they earned a comfortable win against Mizoram. For the team from the northeast, Lalpeksangi scored a consolation goal three minutes from the final hooter.
In the next match of the day, Purnima Yadav (39’, 56’), Suneeta Kumari (32’), Pushpanjali Sonkar (35’) and Vandana Patel (46’) all found the target to help Uttar Pradesh win 5-0.
While the three quarterfinal ties didn’t see much of a contest, the match between Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra was a nailbiter. MP took the lead through Tahur Naaz in the 30th minute. However, two minutes into the final quarter, Sanika Chandrakant equalized for Maharashtra. Then with three minutes left in the match, Gungun Kaur scored for MP to break the hearts of the Maharashtra players and seal MP’s place in the last-four stage.
