Day three of the 11th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship 2021, Kovilpatti, Tamil Nadu yielded favourable results for Hockey Bihar, Hockey Haryana, Hockey Chandigarh, Hockey Andhra Pradesh and Hockey Punjab over Goans Hockey, Hockey Bengal, Hockey Karnataka, Hockey Mizoram and Hockey Maharashtra respectively.
In Pool H, Hockey Bihar got off to a flying start, defeating Goans Hockey 14 – 0. Captain Sachin Dungdung (6’, 17’, 22’, 34’, 57’) and Subal Kerketta (39’, 45’, 47’, 47’, 57’) scored five goals each, while Sanchit Horo (50’, 58’), Rohit Lama (28’), and Turtan Minz (55’) also got in on the act.
In Pool C, Hockey Haryana defeated Hockey Bengal 8 – 0 thanks to goals from Rohit (19’, 34’, 51’, 52’), Pankaj (22’, 34’), Amandeep (28’), and Deepak (46’).
In Pool D, Hockey Chandigarh edged out Hockey Karnataka 1 – 0 in a closely fought match between the two teams. Surinder Singh (35’) scored the solitary goal of the game to secure all three points for his side.
In the second Pool D encounter, Hockey Andhra Pradesh defeated Hockey Mizoram 7 – 1. Puchalapalli Santha Kumar (19’, 53’) scored a brace, while Captain Ponugumati Raghavendra Rao (25’), Galla Siva Pramod (27’), Devarabhotla Shanmukha Srinivas (32’), Maddimeni Rajesh (37’), and Cherukuri Yuvaraj (51’) chipped in with one goal each. Lalruatsanga (54’) scored a consolation goal for Hockey Mizoram.
In Pool E, Hockey Punjab recorded a clinical 2 -0 win over Hockey Maharashtra to make it two wins out of two in their opening two matches of the competition. Jaswinder Singh (25’) and Amritpal Singh (54’) got on the score sheet for Hockey Punjab.
Tripura Hockey forfeited their match against Telangana Hockey and Hockey Arunachal forfeited their match against Kerala Hockey, resulting in default 5 – 0 victories for both winning teams.
Earlier in day two, Manipur Hockey defeated Hockey Gujarat 9 – 2. Goals from Nelson Yumlembam (19’, 20, 37’), Gurumayum Dingku Sharma (8’, 44’), Sushil Lisham (18’, 50’), and Khangembam Somikant Singh (2’, 58’) secured the win for Manipur Hockey. Neel Ajay Patel (57’) and Yash Mahendrabhai Rathod (60’) scored two consolation goals for Hockey Gujarat.
In Pool H, Hockey Jharkhand defeated Assam Hockey 13 -1 thanks to goals from Captain Ashim Tirkey (7’, 39’, 41’), Denis Kerketta (7’, 40’, 59’), Aseem Aind (11’, 49’), Abhishek Guria (14’, 43’), Joseph Topno (28’), Birsa Oreya (45’) and Manohar Mundu (51’). Madhujya Boruah (26’) pulled one goal back for Assam Hockey.
Matches between Hockey Association of Odisha and Hockey Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh Hockey and Hockey Uttarakhand are yet to be played.
