Bhopal, April 16 Former Champions Haryana defeated Maharashtra to set up a summit clash with the Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu, who subdued neighbours Karnataka, in the 12th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship 2022 here on Saturday.
In the first semifinal, Hockey Haryana stamped their authority with a 5-2 victory against Hockey Maharashtra, who were playing in their second successive semifinal.
Hockey Haryana scored through Deepak (21', 50'), Deepak (12'), Ravi (27') and Pankaj (45'). Captain Taleb Shah (24', 52') scored a brace of goals for Hockey Maharashtra, but in the end, it wasn't enough to deny Hockey Haryana a place in Sunday's final.
In the second semifinal, the Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu got the better of Hockey Karnataka 3-0.
After a goalless first half, J. Joshua Benedict Wesley (44'), Sundarapandi (50') and Saravana Kumar (54') came to the fore as their goals sealed a triumphant return to the top for the Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu.
Hockey Haryana will face the Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu in Sunday's final.
This is the second time in two editions that Hockey Maharashtra and Hockey Karnataka will face in the bronze medal match. In the 11th edition of the event played at Pimpri-Chinchwad near Pune in December 2021, Hockey Karnataka defeated Maharashtra to take the bronze medal while Hockey Punjab had defeated Uttar Pradesh Hockey in the final.
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