Khelo India qualifiers: Hockey Punjab drub Chandigarh team

Chandigarh, December 21

Hockey Punjab registered a narrow (1-0) win over Hockey Chandigarh on the second day of the Khelo India Youth Games 2022 (U-18) qualifiers at Bhubaneswar. Both teams couldn’t score a goal in the first half. Dilraj Singh (40th minute), however, scored the only goal of the match to take Hockey Punjab to a victory.

Earlier, Hockey Haryana drubbed Manipur Hockey (9-1). Hockey Haryana dominated the match from the start as Agyapal (5th, 44th), Lovepreet Singh (21st, 29th), Amandeep (30th, 46th) and Amit Khasa (31st, 34th) struck a brace each. Captain Toshant (59th) also contributed to Hockey Haryana’s victory. Chalamba Meetei (45th) scored the lone goal for Manipur Hockey.

Uttar Pradesh Hockey defeated Hockey Andhra Pradesh (15-0) in the second match of Pool A. Ajeet Yadav (29th, 33rd, 37th, 49th) netted most goals for Uttar Pradesh Hockey, while Chandan Yadav (8th, 18th, 38th) and Manoj Yadav (56th, 57th, 59th) scored hat-tricks. Nagendra Kumar (39th), Akash Pal (53rd), Suraj Pal (53rd), Siddhant Singh (55th) and Shahrukh Ali (60th) scored a goal each to contribute to the victory of Uttar Pradesh Hockey.

Pool B matches began with an exciting contest between Hockey Madhya Pradesh and Hockey Jharkhand. The match went right down to the wire as Hockey Madhya Pradesh defeated Hockey Jharkhand (4-3). The Pool B clash between the Hockey Association of Odisha and Hockey Arunachal was forfeited in favour of the Hockey Association of Odisha. The third match of Pool B between Hockey Bihar and Dadra & Nagar Haveli & Daman & Diu Hockey went in the favour of Hockey Bihar.