Hockey Championship: Uttar Pradesh defeat Chandigarh, claim title

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 26

Uttar Pradesh Hockey won the 11th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship by defeating Hockey Chandigarh (3-1) at Kovilpatti, Tamil Nadu.

Tournament’s top scorer Sharda Nand Tiwari opened the tally for Uttar Pradesh Hockey in the 15th minute with a trademark penalty corner, before Arun Sahani (16th, 34th) stretched the lead further. Raman pulled one goal back for Hockey Chandigarh in the 51st minute, but Uttar Pradesh Hockey held on to the lead to be crowned champions of the tournament.

“This has been a combined team effort from the boys who have each given everything for the team. There are a lot of players in this team who have the potential to break into the national team setup if they can keep up this level of performance,” said Rajesh Sonkar, coach of Uttar Pradesh Hockey.

Hockey Association of Odisha edged out Hockey Haryana (3-2) in a closely contested affair to bag third place. Hockey Association of Odisha took the lead in the match through Deepak Minz (27th), only to be pegged back by two goals from Rohit (34th) and Deepak (36th), who put Hockey Haryana in the lead in the third quarter.