Women’s hockey nationals: Punjab to meet Odisha in quarters

Jhansi: Sarabdeep Kaur and Kirandeep Kaur scored a brace each as Hockey Punjab blanked Hockey Arunachal 6-0 to reach the quarter-finals of the 11th Hockey India Senior Women’s National Championship 2021 here on Tuesday.

Sarabdeep opened the scoring for Punjab in the 20th minute and added another goal in the 33rd minute while Kirandeep Kaur scored her brace of goals in the 36th and 43rd minute of the match as Hockey Punjab started on a strong note in their Pool E match. Shalu Mann (28′) and Navjot Kaur (50′) scored one goal each as Punjab sealed their place in the last-eight stage.

In the quarter-finals, Hockey Punjab will take on strong contenders Odisha while Hockey Madhya Pradesh face Hockey Jharkhand, Hockey Maharashtra take on Karnataka and Hockey Haryana meet Uttar Pradesh Hockey in other last-eight stage matches on Wednesday.

Chhattisgarh Hockey, Hockey Andhra Pradesh, Hockey Bihar, and Hockey Bengal registered victories in their respective matches on the sixth day of the championship.

Earlier, in the first match of the day, Chhattisgarh Hockey defeated Hockey Himachal 14-1 in their Pool D match. Rushali Kashyap (23′, 39′, 50′, 54′) scored four goals, while Aasmeen Khan (6′, 17′), Shashi Kiran Lakra (11′, 21′), Captain Balvinder Kaur Mehra (37′, 55′), Pooja Singh (43′, 57′) scored a brace each. Gayatri Shinde (15′) and Pooja Yadav (36′) scored one goal each. Sakshi Thakur (18′) scored the only goal for Hockey Himachal.

In the other Pool E match, Hockey Andhra Pradesh defeated Hockey Chandigarh 3-2. Kalapureddi Veera Venkata Durga (38′, 42′, 54′) scored a hat-trick for Hockey Andhra Pradesh, while Reetu Devi (17′) and Poonam (29′) scored one goal each for Hockey Chandigarh.

In Pool A, Hockey Uttarakhand drew 0-0 with Le Puducherry Hockey.

Hockey Bihar defeated Goans Hockey 4-1 in their Pool B match. Ebha Kerketta (22′, 43′, 54′) scored a hat-trick, while Ritu Singh (25′) scored one goal for Hockey Bihar, while Captain Geeta Rathod (10′) scored the only goal for Goans Hockey.

In the last match of the day, Hockey Bengal defeated Hockey Gujarat 8-1 in their Pool C match. Manisha Bhakat (3′, 7′, 24′, 41′, 51′) scored five goals, while Nandita Deb (20′), Puja Bag (54′), and Supriya Bahadur (57′) scored one goal each for Hockey Bengal. Muskan Kureshi (47′) scored the only goal for Hockey Gujarat.

(IANS)