Lucknow: Akshdeep Singh struck a hat-trick to help favourites Punjab begin their campaign in the 2nd Junior National Men Hockey Championship in style, drubbing Chhattisgarh 7-0, at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium in Lucknow today.

Aksdeep Singh struck four goals including a hat-trick to fashion team’s big victory. After scoring his first goal in the first half, Akshdeep scored consecutive goals in the 54th, 57th and 64thminutes, respectively to complete his maiden hat-trick in the championship in a pool C match.

Chandigarh, which lost to Karnataka in their opening match by 0-2 yesterday, too staged a comeback in the event, scoring an easy 10-1 win against Jammu and Kahsmir in pool G.

But, their chances of making it to the quarterfinals look uncertain as Karnataka with two wins in as many as matches are on the verge of making it to the last eight.

Karnataka had a 5-0 win against Kerala early in the day. Captain Aiyappa PR Paranandan led from the front, scoring two goals in the first 11 minutes. Basvaraj Amdiger, She She Gowda and Mallikarjun Aikur scored a goal each.

Day fifth best match was played between SAI Bhopal and Maharashtra in pool E, where the two teams had to split points after playing 1-1 draw. SAI took the lead in the 29th minute through Nitesh, who converted a penalty stroke into goal. But six minutes before the hooter, Kartik Sharma converted a penalty corner to level the score.

In the fourth match of the day in pool G, Karnataka beat Kerla by 5-0. Aiyappa P R Paradanda scored two goals while Basvaraj Amdiger, She She Gowda and Mallikarjun Aikur shared three goals among them.

Earlier, defending champions Haryana got a walk-over from Assam in pool A as rivals failed to turn for the second consecutive day.

Tamil Nadu beat Uttrakhand by 5-0.

TOMORROW’S FIXTURES

Pool A: Haryana vs Bengal (7.00 a.m); Pool C: Punjab vs Gujarat (8.30 a.m.); Pool E: Uttarakhand vs SAI, Bhopal (10.00 a.m); Pool G: Karnataka vs J&K (11.30 a.m); Pool E: Maharashtra vs Tamil Nadu (3.00 p.m); Pool G: Chandigarh vs Kerala (4.30 p.m.)

By Indian Sports News Network