Sr Men's National Hockey: Manipur, Haryana, Odisha, U.P. reach semifinals

Chennai: Manipur, Haryana, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh emerged victorious in intense quarterfinal action on Day 10 of the 14th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship advancing to the semifinals at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium here on Wednesday. In the last-four stage clashes on Friday, Hockey Haryana will clash with Uttar Pradesh Hockey while Manipur Hockey will take on the Hockey Association of Odisha.

In the first match of the day, Manipur Hockey defeated Hockey Punjab 3-3 (4-3 SO) via a shoot-out in a quarterfinal clash. Both teams were locked in a 3-3 draw in regulation time. Cyril Lagun (14’, 36’, 51’) scored a hat-trick for Manipur Hockey. For Hockey Punjab, Ravneet Singh (24’, 59’) and Maninder Singh (18’) were the goal scorers.

In the ensuing shootout, Manipur Hockey’s goalkeeper Hemam Dhanaraj Singh made two crucial saves while Nilakanta Sharma, who was on target twice, Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh, and Khadangbam Kothajit Singh successfully converted their chances to secure the win for Manipur Hockey.

In the second quarterfinal, Hockey Haryana beat Hockey Maharashtra 5-1. Maharashtra were leading for the majority of the encounter through an early breakthrough from Aniket Gaurav (12’). However, Haryana rallied in the final quarter to score five goals. Rohit (53’, 59’, 60’) led the charge with a late hat trick along with goals from Rajinder Singh (48’) and Pankaj (54’) to complete the victory for Haryana.

Uttar Pradesh Hockey defeated Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu 3-1 in the third quarterfinal. Chandan Singh (3’) struck first to break the deadlock for Uttar Pradesh. Shanmugavel S (9’) provided the equaliser for Tamil Nadu before Rajkumar Pal (18’) and Captain, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay (34’) added to Uttar Pradesh’s tally and ensured victory.

In the last quarterfinal, the Hockey Association of Odisha defeated Hockey Karnataka (3-1 SO) after both teams were locked in a 3-3 draw. Pruthvi Raj G.N. (5) gave Hockey Karnataka the lead followed by goals from Bharath Mahalingappa Kurtakoti (11’) and Vishwas G. (26’). The scorers for Odisha were Mangal Lohar (14’), Shilanand Lakra (20’), and Pratap Lakra (50’).

In the shootout, Hockey Association of Odisha’s goalkeeper, Sahil Kumar Nayak only conceded once, while Sudeep Chirmako, Matiyas Dang, and Shilanand Lakra found the back of the net to pave their path into the semifinals.