Hockey: Karnataka thrash Jharkhand to reach semis

Hockey Karnataka produced a rich vein of form as they clinched a well deserved 8-3 victory over Hockey Jharkhand to storm into the semi-finals of the 2nd Hockey India 5-a-side Senior National Championship (Men) 2017 here at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Stadium in Balewdi, Pune last evening.

Besides Karnataka, hosts Hockey Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh Hockey and Hockey Haryana qualified as the semi-finalists of the exciting tournament.

In the first quarter-final of the men's championship 2017, it was Hockey Karnataka who came out on top with a thumping win over Hockey Jharkhand.

The game saw a topsy-turvy first period where it was Hockey Karnataka who emerged as the leaders with a score line of 4-2 in their favour. They continued their momentum onto the next two periods as they scored two goals each in both the periods to register a 8-3 win.

Goals for Hockey Karnataka were scored by Mohammed Raheel Mouseen (9', 16', 17', 28'), GN Pruthviraj (3', 27'), B Abharan Sudev (6') and KR Bharath (6') while Noyel Topno (8', 23') and Jen Soreng (5') scored for Hockey Jharkhand.

The second quarter-final saw the hosts Hockey Maharashtra in action who defeated Hockey Punjab in a close encounter with a score line of 3-2.

It was Hockey Maharashtra who took a 3-0 lead inside the opening seven minutes to stamp their authority on the match, but Hockey Punjab rejuvenated themselves in the last period to pull two goals back which were not enough to trouble the hosts.

Goals from Hockey Maharashtra were scored by Devinder Walmiki (4', 7') and Vikas Pillay (7') while a brace from Hockey Punjab's Hardik Singh (20', 23') was not enough.

Uttar Pradesh Hockey had a high scoring third quarter-final as they defeated Hockey Odisha 8-6.

The match started with Hockey Odisha scoring first but their opponents struck twice to take a 2-1 lead at the end of first period. In the second period, the teams had an equally attacking display which meant that the teams were tied at 4-4 after the second period but four goals in the final period saw Uttar Pradesh Hockey take the match 8-6.

Sumit Kumar (8', 12', 21', 24', 27'), Raj Kumar Pal (7', 20') and Ajay Yadav (25') scored the goals for Uttar Pradesh Hockey while Suman Kujur (6', 16', 19'), Rakesh Tete (17', 29') and Teophil Kujur (27') scored for Hockey Odisha in an entertaining match.

The last match of the day say Hockey Haryana register a dominating 5-3 win against Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu to book their place in the semi-finals.

Jasbir Singh (2'), Vishal Dahiya (8'), Munish Rana (8'), Harpal Singh (17') and Sher Singh (23') scored the five goals for Hockey Haryana as

they defeated Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu for whom RS Sunil Murthy (4'), R Mankandan (7') and M Hariharan (24') scored the three goals.

-ANI