National Championship: Hockey Chandigarh defeat Manipur
December 14, 2021, Pune
Hockey Chandigarh defeated Manipur Hockey by a solitary goal in the 11th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship at Pune. It was a battle among equals. After a goalless two quarters, where both sides defended resolutely calling their keepers into action more than once, the game hung on a knife edge.
It was Chandigarh that broke the deadlock in the third quarter. Amandeep finished off a sweeping move in the 42nd minute to give them the lead. It was a lead they hung on to, despite a flood of Manipur pressure to secure three points and jump to top of the group.
Hockey Punjab also moved ahead by trouncing Hockey Andhra Pradesh (7-1). Hockey Punjab started their onslaught early, with captain Rupinder Pal Singh slotting home a penalty corner as early as the 2nd minute of the game. From thereon, goals by Lovepreet Jainth (5th), Ranjot Singh (19th), Sudarshan Singh (29th, 55th), Parampreet Singh (40th) and Sankalp Singh (42th) ensured they secure three points. Hockey Andhra Pradesh’s solitary goal was scored by Venkata Sree Aripineni Balaji in the 26th minute.
Hockey Jammu & Kashmir defeated Hockey Arunachal (10-3) in a high-scoring encounter. A hat-trick by Jasprit Singh (13th, 19th, 33rd, 44th) and a brace each by Karanjit Singh (16th, 26th) and Manpreet Singh (42nd, 59th) consolidated the victory. Sandeep Singh (21st) and Hussain Mohd Dar (56th) also got a goal each for Jammu & Kashmir. Goals for Hockey Arunachal were scored by Sandeep (30th, 33rd) and Ucha Singh (22nd).
Hockey Rajasthan overwhelmed Tripura Hockey (18-0). A double hat-trick by Vijendra Singh (25th, 28th, 40th, 48th, 50th, 57th) was the highlight of the game where eight Rajasthan players got goals. Shyam Singh Chouhan (14th, 52nd, 53rd, 58th), Hashanpreet Singh (12th, 45th), Karanjot Singh Mann (16th, 44th), captain Chandransh Sharma (34th), Akhtar Shoyab Qureshi (39th), Chetan Kalot (43rd) and Amit Kumar Saini (59th) were among the goal scorers as Rajasthan took three points.
In the day’s opener, Hockey Karnataka beat Le Puducherry Hockey (4-0) in Pool C. Goals for Karnataka were scored by Harish Mutagar (5th), S Deekshith P (25th), Shamanth CS (40th) and Pavan Madivalar (49th).
Delhi Hockey defeated Hockey Madhya Pradesh (3-2), while Hockey Andaman and Nicobar forfeit their Pool D game against Hockey Uttarakhand.
