Ranchi (Jharkhand), March 27 Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Jharkhand had successful outings as they secured wins in their respective last league matches in Pool A of the Final Phase of the National Women’s Hockey League 2024-25 held at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Astro Turf Hockey Stadium on Thursday.
Hockey Haryana finished as the table toppers and will play against the Hockey Association of Odisha in the final on Friday. Also, Hockey Jharkhand finished the league stage in third position and will fight against Hockey Mizoram for the podium finish on Friday.
In the first match of the day, Hockey Bengal defeated Manipur Hockey 2-1 in Pool A. Kangjam Silvia Chanu (26’) opened the account on the scoreboard for Manipur Hockey.
In reply, Bulbul Kumari Shaw (53’) and Sibiya Nag (59’) scored one goal each to take the lead for Hockey Bengal in the last quarter. With this win, Hockey Bengal ended their campaign at the seventh position in the pool standings, whereas Manipur Hockey remained at the eighth position with one win in the tournament.
In the next match, Hockey Madhya Pradesh won 2-1 against Hockey Haryana. Sneha Patel (13’) and Khushi Katariya (36’) scored one goal each for Hockey Madhya Pradesh. On the other side, skipper Pooja Malik (24’) scored the consolation goal for Hockey Haryana.
Despite losing the match against Hockey Madhya Pradesh, Hockey Haryana stood out to be the table topper with four wins and will appear in the final on Friday. Hockey Madhya Pradesh finished in the fifth position.
In the other match, Hockey Maharashtra defeated Hockey Mizoram 2-1. Sanika Chandrakant Mane (25’) and Tanushree Dinesh Kadu (27’) scored two back-to-back goals before the half-time whistle for Hockey Maharashtra whereas Vanlalrinhui (54’) could only score one goal towards the final minutes in the game for Hockey Mizoram.
After the final league game, Hockey Mizoram ended the campaign in fourth position and will vie for the podium finish against Hockey Jharkhand on Friday, whereas Hockey Maharashtra secured the sixth position.
Also, in the last match of the day, Hockey Jharkhand edged past the Hockey Association of Odisha with 2-0. Shanti Kumari (3’) and Hemrom Leoni (42’) scored for Hockey Jharkhand to take the game away from the Hockey Association of Odisha.
With this win, Hockey Jharkhand climbed up to third position and will compete against Hockey Mizoram for the 3rd vs 4th place, and Hockey Association of Odisha will appear in the final against Hockey Haryana.
--IANS
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