Captain Rani Ramphal’s hat-trick powered Haryana to its second straight win in the women’s hockey of the 36th National Games at the Dhyanchand stadium here on Monday.
Haryana rode on Rani’s brilliance to beat Odisha 4-0 in Group A. Rani scored in the 14th, 16th and 24th minutes to complete her hat-trick, while Sharmila Devi scored the fourth.
There was no respite for host Gujarat, which lost heavily to Uttar Pradesh 20-0 in another lopsided Group A contest. Karnataka held Jharkhand to a thrilling 3-3 draw in a group B match. Karnataka went ahead twice only to find Jharkhand drawing level.
Jharkhand went ahead for the first time in the match in the 51st minute through Deepika Soreng’s field goal. But the resilient Karnataka girls found the equaliser in the 57th minute when captain Kruthika converted a penalty corner.
In the men’s section, Maharashtra hammered host Gujarat 20-1 while Haryana thrashed West Bengal 7-0 with Abhishek scoring a hat-trick.
The results: Men: Maharashtra bt Gujarat 20-1; Haryana bt West Bengal 7-0.
Women: Haryana bt Odisha 4-0; Uttar Pradesh bt Gujarat 20-0; Karnataka 3 drew Jharkhand 3.
