Jalandhar, Sep 18 Uttar Pradesh Hockey and Hockey Punjab reached the final of 14th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship 2024 upon winning their respective semi-final match.
Hockey Karnataka will also face Hockey Haryana for the 3rd/4th place on Thursday.
In the first semifinal between Hockey Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh Hockey, it was Uttar Pradesh Hockey that successfully booked their berth in the final after winning the game 3-1.
Rajesh Yadav (41’), Ajeet Kumar (45’) and Fahad Khan (57’) scored one goal each for the winning side whereas captain Sunil PB (53’) scored the consolation goal for Hockey Karnataka. With this, Uttar Pradesh Hockey became the first team to enter the final of the tournament.
In the second semis, Hockey Punjab defeated Hockey Haryana 4-4 (7-6) in a jaw-dropping thriller. Hockey Haryana took the lead from the start of the game as Manish Kumar (9’, 21’, 36’) scored a hattrick early in the game. Navraj Singh (54’) also scored one goal each for Hockey Haryana.
On the other side, Hockey Punjab who was trailing throughout the game made a strong comeback towards the end of the game. Japnit Singh (43’, 59’) scored a brace while Captain Ujwal Singh (50’) and Lovenoor Singh (53’) as they scored one goal each.
In the penalty shootout also, both the teams scored three goals each. Captain Panchal Priskhit, Sunil Maan and Shivam scored for Hockey Haryana. On the other hand, Japnit Singh, Captain Ujwal Singh and Lovenoor Singh scored for Hockey Punjab.
The match then went further into sudden death where Sukhwinder Singh, Lovenoor Singh, Captain Ujwal Singh and Om Rajnesh Saini scored for Hockey Punjab.
On the other side, Amit Khasa, Shivam and Captain Prikshit Panchal scored one goal each whereas Ekampreet Singh successfully defended the fourth strike by Manish Kumar for Hockey Punjab resulting in a dramatic victory.
With this, Hockey Punjab secured their spot in the final.
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