Jharkhand, Haryana in national women's hockey semi-finals

Jharkhand, Haryana, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh emerged victorious in their quarter-final matches of the 13th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship here on Thursday.

Jharkhand defeated Punjab 2-0 to secure a place in the last four, with Alka Dungdung (48th) and Albela Rani Toppo (52nd) scoring late goals. Haryana defeated Bengal 5-0 with Devika Sen (4th, 34th) and Amandeep Kaur (9th, 60th) scoring a brace each, while Monika Sihag scored in the 51st minute.

The third match went right down to the wire with Hockey Maharashtra beating defending champions Hockey Association of Odisha by 5-4 in penalty shootouts. Both teams scored a goal each in regulation time with Janhabi Pradhan (36’) scoring for the Hockey Association of Odisha and Ashwini Kolekar (37’) netting the equalizer for Hockey Maharashtra.

The penalty shootouts went to sudden death, with H Lalruatfeli converting for Hockey Maharashtra and Susmita Patil saving Anupa Barla's stroke to secure Hockey Maharashtra's place in the Semi-Finals.

“This was one of the closest matches I have played at this level and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to experience this in a setup that is similar to the international matches. We aim to keep performing well and play in the Finals as well”, said Prativa Ekka, Player of the Match, after the match ended.

The final encounter of the day between Hockey Karnataka and Hockey Madhya Pradesh ended with Hockey Madhya Pradesh winning by a 6-0 margin. The goal scorers were Diksha Tiwari (10’, 39’), Player of the Match Anjali Gautam (12’), Preeti Dubey (35’, 41’), and Aishwarya Chavan (53). With this complete victory, Hockey Madhya Pradesh has also booked its spot in the Semi-Finals to be held on 25th February.