BANGALORE, Sept 25: Defending champions Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Air India and Madhya Pradesh today entered the quaterfinals of the second Senior Men’s National Hockey Championship here today.
While Haryana pipped Puducherry 3-1 in Pool A, Tamil Nadu adnaced to the quarters from Pool G after trouncing Kerala 16-1.
Haryana had been exceptional right from the start of the tournamernt as so far they did not lose a single game. They registered a convincing 8-0 win against Bengal in the opener and then pipped Bhopal 2-1 in a hard-fought battle.
Air India and Madhya Pradesh also stormed into the quarterfinals from Pool E after thrashing Nagaland 16-0 and Rajasthan 11-0, respectively.
Air India had earlier won two matches against Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan 4-1 and 9-0, while Madhya Pradesh had won against Nagaland 9-2 before losing to Air India.
In their previous encounters, Tamil Nadu drew against 2-2 Orissa and walloped Gujarat 25-1, the highest goal-scoring match in the championship till date.
Against Puducherry, Haryana displayed their skills in every department and raced to a 2-1 lead at the half time.
Harpreet Singh, who converted a penalty corner in the 21st minute, gave Haryana the lead but it was shortlived as Puducherry equalised two minutes later through Kamalakannan’s field goal.
But four minutes later Karamjit Singh (27th)restored the lead for Haryana through a field goal. Naveen Antil then sealed the win for Haryana in the 50th minute.
In a Pool G match, Tamil Nadu’s penalty conversions proced too good for Kerala as Rupinder Pal Singh slammed home five goals while Ashok Kumar scored from the other set peiece.
Apart from Rupinder and Ashok, Vinod Rayer mesmerised the fans with three field goals while Gunasekhar and Damu scored two goals each. Shivamani, Manoj and V Raja also registered their names among scorers by punpimg home one goal each. (PTI)
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