Jr Men's Hockey Nationals: Kerala, Puducherry, Chhattisgarh win in Div ‘C’; Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Delhi rule in Div 'B'

Jalandhar, Aug 13 (IANS) Kerala Hockey, Le Puducherry Hockey, Chhattisgarh Hockey, and Goans Hockey win in Division ‘C’ while Hockey Chandigarh, Hockey Uttarakhand, and Delhi emerge victorious in their Division 'B' league matches on Day 2 of the 15th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship here on Wednesday. 

The day began with a Division 'C', Pool A match in which Kerala Hockey built on their form with a dominant 8-3 win over Telangana Hockey. Captain Muhammed Kaif (14', 57') and Adity Kumar (17', 28') scored braces while Akshay Anil (14'), Shalik K.S. (21'), Rohit Kushwaha (22'), and Arjun Krishna M L (53') also contributed with goals for Kerala Hockey. Pradeep Kodapa (3', 29') and Aggu Manoj (30') scored goals for Telangana Hockey.

The second match saw Le Puducherry Hockey defeat Tripura Hockey 4-0 in their Pool A fixture. Captain Keerthivasan (28', 59') scored a brace for the winning team, and Illamaran (24') and Madhavan (34') also struck the net for Le Puducherry Hockey.

In Pool B of Division 'C', Chhattisgarh Hockey outperformed Hockey Gujarat with a commanding scoreline of 13-0. Mohit Nayak (6', 10', 28', 30', 31', 33') was in brilliant form as he registered six goals to his name. Om Kumar Yadav (36', 55', 57'), Karan Kumar Sahu (13', 38'), Captain Anand Kumar Suryavanshi (18'), and Avinash Ekka (58') were the other goal scorers for Chhattisgarh Hockey.

In the final match of Division 'C', Goans Hockey defeated Hockey Raj 4-2 in Pool B. Krish Shyam Gaunkar (3', 47') and Tushar Sharma (23', 57') scored braces for Goans Hockey while Manvendra Gurjar (31') and Mohammad Ubaid Raza (41') scored the two goals for Hockey Raj.

In Division 'B', Hockey Chandigarh beat Hockey Jammu & Kashmir 7-2 in their Pool A match. Satnam Singh (22', 26', 28', 36', 47') showcased brilliant skill, scoring five goals for the winning side. Dheeraj (10') and Moohamed Jaeed (15') also scored for Hockey Chandigarh. Captain Rajveer Singh (49', 58') was the lone scorer for Hockey Jammu & Kashmir.

In the next fixture, Hockey Uttarakhand defeated Hockey Association of Bihar 3-1 in Division 'B'. Mahendra Singh Bisht (32', 36', 40') scored a match-winning hat-trick for the winners. Nandlal Shah (9') scored the one goal for the Hockey Association of Bihar.

In the last fixture, Delhi continued their winning form with a slim 1-0 win over Hockey Bengal in Pool B of Division 'B'. Yuvraj Singh (40') converted a penalty corner in the third quarter to win the match for Delhi.

--IANS

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