Ranchi: Hockey Punjab beat Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy by 3-0 in Pool A of the ongoing Hockey India 5th Sub Junior National Hockey Championship 2015 (Women) ‘’A’’ Division here on Wednesday.

In another match in Pool A between Hockey Maharashtra and Hockey Rajasthan, the former beat the latter by 7-0. In Pool B, Uttar Pradesh Hockey defeated Bengal Hockey Association by 4-0.

Beginning the day on a high, Hockey Punjab defeated Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy by 3-0 with their superior stick skills. It was a nail biting clash where Hockey Punjab opened the account through a field goal by a brilliant effort by Reet in the 17th minute. Increasing the lead to 3-0, captain of Hockey Punjab, Navneet Kaur pierced the opponent’s defence and struck the goal post twice in the 24th and 35th minute, taking her team to a very strong position. On the other hand, Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy continued to fight but failed to leverage any opportunities, leaving the score board at 3-0 by the end of the first half. The second half of the game was more competitive as the two teams brought in their best skills of the trade but none of the teams were able to score, declaring a convincing win for Hockey Punjab over Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy by 3-0.

Hockey Maharashtra out-shined Hockey Rajasthan as the former defeated the latter by 7-0 today. During the first ten minutes, the teams tussled against each other trying to take the first lead in the match. Luck favoured Hockey Maharashtra when Rutuja Pisal, took advantage of a chink in the opposition’s defence which helped them to score a brilliant field goal in the 11th minute. The team added another dent on the opponents in the 25th minute as Rutuja Pisal broke through the opposition’s defence and smashed a field goal, taking the score to 2-0. Continuing the momentum Hockey Maharshtra through Radhika Wadkar found the nets in the 28th minute and the goal tally read 3-0, which was the half time scores. The second half saw Hockey Maharashtra continuing with their goal spree as Pooja Borkar and Shradha Tiwari as they successfully added one goal each in the 38th and 47th minute. With 5-0 on the board, Hockey Maharashtra ended the game on a high as they added two more goals to the scorecard and winning it by 7-0.

In Pool B match, Uttar Pradesh Hockey beat Bengal Hockey Association by a margin of 4-0 with the help of brilliant braces by Sonal Tiwari and Archana Bharadwaj. In the first three quarters, both the teams fought neck-to-neck to score goals but they failed to materialise their opportunities. In the last ten minutes, Bengal players started showing their tiredness and losing their ground. Uttar Pradesh kept on attacking and managed to get two back-to-back penalty corners, which were perfectly converted by Sonal and Archana respectively. Leading by two goals, the duo attacked again and scored two more goals in 60th and 66th minutes respectively. With the marvellous stroke by Sonal and Archana, Uttar Pradesh Hockey defeated Bengal Hockey Association by 4-0.

Results of the day-

Pool A - Hockey Punjab 3 Reet (17min- FG), Navneet Kaur (24min-FG, 35min-PS) vs Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 0

Pool A - Hockey Maharashtra 7 Rutuja Pisal (11 min-FG, 25 min-FG), Radhika Wadkar (28 min-FG), Pooja Borkar (38 min-FG, 67 min-PC), Shradha Tiwari (47 min-FG, 69 min-FG) vs Hockey Rajasthan 0

Pool B – Uttar Pradesh Hockey 4 Sonal Tiwari (51 min-PC, 66 min-PC), Archana Bharadwaj (58 min-PC, 60 min-FG) vs Bengal Hockey Association 0.