Hockey Men's Nationals: Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Punjab enter semi-finals

As the tournament moved toward the business end at the Senior Men National Championship 2025, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, and Punja reached the semifinals in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, on Saturday.

In the semi-finals, Madhya Pradesh will take on Manipur, whereas the hosts Uttar Pradesh will be up against Punjab on Sunday.

Shoot-off win for Manipur and Madhya Pradesh

In the first match of the day, after a 1-1 draw at full time, Madhya Pradesh emerged victorious over Maharashtra 4-2 in the shootout.

Pratap Lakra (6’) converted a penalty corner and opened the scoring for Madhya Pradesh early in the game. Three minutes later, Maharashtra promptly replied courtesy of a field goal from Aakib Rahim (9’).

Sundram Rajawat, Shreyas Dhupe, Ali Ahmad, and Pratap Lakra scored in the shootout for Madhya Pradesh. Devindar Walmiki and Venkatesh Kenche were the only scorers for Maharashtra, as Madhya Pradesh goalkeeper Sanjay B made crucial saves to help his side win.

Meanwhile, defenses were on top in the second quarter-final match as Manipur and Tamil Nadu played out a goalless draw and battled it out in the shootout, which the former won 4-1.

Manipur won six penalty corners while Tamil Nadu won four, however, both sides couldn’t find the net. In the shootout, Nilakanta Sharma, Waribam Nirajkumar Singh, Kothajit Singh and Laishram Dipu Singh scored for Manipur.

Goalkeeper Ankit Malik of Manipur was in incredible form and made two saves, as Karthi Selvam was the only scorer for Tamil Nadu during the shootout.

Punjab edged past Haryana in the battle of heavyweights

In the third match, Punjab defeated Haryana 3-2 to seal their spot in the semifinals. Araijeet Singh Hundal (15’) scored the only goal of the first half to give Punjab the lead.

Sanjay (32’) scored the equaliser for Haryana, but Punjab scored two goals in quick succession, thanks to Jugraj Singh (33’) and Pardeep Singh (34’), to reclaim the lead.

Kuldeep (56’) got one goal back in the dying minutes of the game, however, Punjab maintained their one-goal lead in the last four minutes to reach the semifinals.

In the final quarterfinal, the home favourites Uttar Pradesh ended the quarterfinals proceeding as they came from behind to take a 3-1 win over Karnataka to confirm the semi-final lineup.

Rahul (24') scored the opening goal of the match for Karnataka, but then three late goals from Manish Yadav (45'), Rajbhar Pawan (52'), and Shardanand Tiwari (59') took Uttar Pradesh to the final four.