Gritty Jharkhand went down fighting to Haryana in the women’s hockey semifinals of the 36th National Games at the Dhyanchand hockey stadium here on Sunday.
International Rani Rampal slammed five goals including a hat-trick as Haryana snuffed out the challenge from the brave Jharkhand side which scored two quick goals to raise hopes of a comeback in the last quarter.
However, Haryana recovered from the slight blip and Rani Ramphal scored again twice to enable her side to enter the final. Jharkhand played positively at the start and enjoyed more of the possession but Haryana soaked up the early pressure and began to dominate its rival. Rani Rampal put Haryana ahead in the 11th minute by scoring in a goalmouth melee. Jharkhand's defence found it difficult to check the rampaging Haryana forwards and conceded a spare of penalty corners in the second quarter. Rani increased the lead for Haryana in the 16th minute by converting a penalty corner. At the stroke of half-time, Jharkhand conceded a penalty stroke which was converted by Rani to complete her hat-trick.
In the third quarter, Jharkhand gave a vastly improved performance and shrugged off its timidity. Jharkhand caught Haryana off guard with its swift counterattacks and Sangita Kumari pulled one back by converting a penalty corner in the 45th minute. Two minutes later Salima Tete scored off a fine move to reduce the score to 3-2. However, Haryana regrouped and Rani Rampal slotted in her fourth goal off a penalty corner in the 49th minute. Rani scored from close in the 58th minute to complete a fine day for me.
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