Punjab women stormed into the semifinals of the 36th National Games hockey event at the Dhyanchand Hockey stadium in Rajkot on Friday.
Punjab routed Gujarat 24-0 in a lopsided quarterfinal match. The floodgates opened in the second minutes when Annu scored a field goal. Annu went on to score four more goals while Rajwinder Kaur helped herself to six goals.
Defending champion Haryana crushed Karnataka 6-0 to enter the semifinals. The Karnataka goalkeeper G.R. Shravya’s heroics under the bar prevented a carnage as the star-studded Haryana side ran its opponents ragged. Rani and Neha scored a brace each for Haryana.
Madhya Pradesh came back from behind to beat Odisha 4-2 and enter the last-four. The National champion Odisha failed to combine as a unit and made defensive errors. Madhya Pradesh outplayed Odisha by showing better cohesion and sharpness in its attacks.
After falling behind in the sixth minute, Odisha drew level two minutes later. Odisha conceded a spate of penalty corners in the match and Madhya Pradesh scored thrice off the penalty corner drills. Neeraj Rani, the penalty corner specialist, scored a brace for the winner.
The results (quarterfinals): Madhya Pradesh bt Odisha 4-2; Haryana bt Karnataka 6-0; Punjab bt Gujarat 24-0.
