Senior Men’s Hockey National Championship: Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha emerge victorious on Day 5

Punjab beats Maharashtra in a hard fought match, while Haryana (Pool A), Tamil Nadu (B) and Karnataka (C)---topped their groups and qualified for the quarterfinals.

Walmiki Yuvaraj of Maharashtra scoring first goal against Punjab during the 13th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship in Chennai on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: Ragu R / The Hindu

Playing its first match of the Senior National men’s hockey championship here on Tuesday, favourite Punjab, with five current Indian Internationals in its ranks including captain Harmanpreet Singh, had to fight hard to pull off a 4-2 victory over Maharashtra in a Pool-D match.  

Earlier in a Pool A tie, International Sanjay scored four times in Haryana’s 13-1 triumph over Chhatisgarh. 

The match of the day and perhaps the best of the Nationals so far was the Punjab-Maharashtra clash. Never has a top team been challenged so capably as much as Maharashtra did.

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The match went on an even keel till the third quarter (2-1). Punjab, however, showed its might in the final quarter scoring two goals through Dilpreet Singh and Harmanpreet Singh. Yuvraj Walmiki’s second goal came pretty late in the match for Maharashtra.

Meanwhile, three teams—Haryana (Pool A), Tamil Nadu (B) and Karnataka (C)---topped their groups and qualified for the quarterfinals.  

The results

Pool A: Haryana 13 (Sanjay 10, 17, 50, 54, Rajant 4, 47, Kohinoorpreet Singh 27, 39, 56, Deepak 41, 59, Abhishek 43, Mukul Sharma 60) bt Chhattisgarh 1 (Karthik Yadav 49).

Pool D: Punjab 4 (Jugraj Singh 26, Simranjeet Singh 41, Dilpreet Singh 51, Harmanpreet Singh 54) bt Maharashtra 2 (Yuvraj Walmiki 20, 59).

Pool G: UP 3 (Manish Yadav 25, Sunil Yadav 37, Faraz Mohd. 53) bt Le Puducherry 2 (T. Arun 46, 55); Kerala 2 (Sadhik Tk 12, C. Abhinav 49) drew with Rajasthan 2 (Shoyab Akhtar 36, 39).

Pool H: Odisha 8 (Amit Rohidas 1, 4, 33, Rajin Kandulna 13, Ashis Kumar Topno 24, 32, Nilam Sanjeev Xess 37, Shilanand Lakra 58) bt Delhi 1 (Aman Khan 11).