5-a-Side Senior Hockey: Haryana and Karnataka emerged as winners
September 29, 2019, Chandigarh, Kanpur
A brace each from Monika Sihag and Deepika helped Hockey Haryana register a 4-2 win over hosts Uttar Pradesh Hockey and top the podium in the 4th Hockey India 5-a-side Senior National Championship at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur.
Haryana girls got off to a great start as Monika scored a couple of quick goals to put the visitors 2-0 ahead at the end of the 7th minute. Monika added another goal to the Haryana tally in the 8th minute, but the hosts fought back and scored through Anuja Singh in the 12th and 13th minutes to stay in the game. Monika, however, struck again in the 16th minute to eventually seal a
4-2 win for her side. Meanwhile, Hockey Jharkhand beat Hockey Odisha 3-2 in a high-octane match to win the bronze medal.
In the men’s competition, Abharan Sudev struck thrice to help defending champions Hockey Karnataka defeat Uttar Pradesh Hockey 7-3 in the final. Karnataka though changed their game and completely dominated both the first and second half to finally win the match 7-3. Hockey Punjab blanked Hockey Odisha 2-0 to clinch the bronze medal. Karanbir Singh (5th) and Surdarshan Singh (20th) scored a goal each for Punjab.
