Patiala girls clinch title

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 2

Hockey Patiala maintained a clean slate as they beat Hockey Bhopal 3-1 in 

the final to win the 9th Hockey India Junior Women National Hockey Championship 2019 (B Division) in Kollam, Kerala, on Saturday. 

Andhra Hockey Association finished third after beating Assam Hockey 2-1 in the playoff.

Patiala girls raced to 2-0 lead within 13 minutes to put pressure on their opponents. Hockey Bhopal tried to make inroads into the Patiala defence and their attempts bore the fruit when Meenu Rani struck in the 39th minute.    

However, Hockey Patiala scored a third goal in the 47th minute to ensure a comfortable victory. 

Captain Navjot Kaur (8th), Taranpreet Kaur (13th) and Gurmail Kaur (47th) scored a goal each for Patiala.

In the third-place playoff, Andhra Hockey Association came from behind to beat Assam Hockey. 

Assam girls scored the opening goal of the match in the 14th minute through Soropina Tigga. However, Andhra Hockey Association restored the parity in the very next minute through Maheswari Balagonda. 

She scored another goal in the 47th minute to help her team win the match 2-1.