New Delhi: The 1st Hockey India Junior Men and Women Intra Zonal Championships 2023 kicked off on Sunday in the North, South, East, and West Zones with some notable performances that put their home teams in title contention right away.
North Zone: Hockey Chandigarh Men; Hockey Punjab Women & Hockey Haryana Women secure big win
Hockey Chandigarh opened play in the junior men’s category of the inaugural Hockey India Junior Men and Junior Women North Zone Championships 2023 in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, by defeating Hockey Uttarakhand 8-0. Captain Pankaj Sharma (15′), Gurpreet Singh (17′, 36′), Sukhmanpreet Singh (19′), Gurjeet Singh (28′, 39′), Damandeep Singh (52′), and Rishav (58′) scored goals for Hockey Chandigarh. The second match of the day between Hockey Haryana and Hockey Himachal was forfeited in the favour of Hockey Haryana, giving Hockey Haryana a 5-0 victory.
In the Junior Women’s category, Hockey Punjab beat Hockey Chandigarh 12-1. Sweena Rani (9’, 17’), Sukhjeet Kaur (14’), Lakhvir Kaur (16’, 38’), Pawanpreet Kaur (26’, 33’, 37’, 38’, 59’), Daljeet Kaur (41’, 52’) and Ravneet Kaur (54’) scored for Hockey Punjab while Tamanna (49’) scored the consolation goal for Hockey Chandigarh.
Hockey Haryana defeated Hockey Uttarakhand 12-0 in the second match. Ravina (7′), Saavi (14′), Pooja (19′, 47′, 60′), Bhavya (22′), Shashi Khasa (32′), Ritika (41′, 57′), Khushi (44′), Ritika Mann (58′), and Captain Bhateri (59′) all scored for Hockey Haryana.
In the third encounter of the day, Uttar Pradesh Hockey beat Delhi Hockey by a 6-0 scoreline. Peetambari Kumari (11’), Kanchan Kumari (15’, 27’), Purnima Yadav (18’), Pushpanjali Sonkar (23’) and Vandana Patel (50’) scored for Uttar Pradesh Hockey.
South Zone: Hockey Karnataka, Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu men and women’s teams register victory In the opening game of the junior men’s category of the 1st Hockey India Junior Men and Junior Women North Zone Championships 2023 in Ramanathpuram, Tamil Nadu, Hockey Karnataka defeated Telangana Hockey 25-0. Akhil Aiyappa Bn (2’, 7’, 41’, 41’, 48’), Sunil P B (5’, 47’), Captain Pavan Dr (9’, 18’, 28’, 51’, 56’), Rohan Gokak (23’, 53’), Dhruva Kr (30’, 45’), Dhruva Bs (31’, 51’, 56’), Yashash Panappa (37’), Chengappa K.S (42’, 53’, 59’), Shrijith K.C (49’) and Dhanush Shane D (54’) scored for Hockey Karnataka.
The second match of the day, Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu defeated Le Puducherry Hockey 10-0. Captain Srinivasan M (5’), Rakesh (16’, 28’), Hariharan Sudhakaran (20’), Anand Y (29’, 38’, 48’, 58’) and Sugumar M (56’) scored for Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu.
The third Junior Men match of the day saw Kerala Hockey register a 1-0 win against Hockey Andhra Pradesh with Ashish Lakra (29’) registering the only goal of the game for Kerala Hockey.
In the Junior Women’s category, Hockey Karnataka beat Le Puducherry Hockey by 20-0. The goals were scored by Sowmya HV (2’, 9’, 34’, 36’), Manish Ponnamma Cd (7’, 36’, 49’), Captain Yamuna (12’, 13’, 15+’, 19’, 23’, 26’, 39’, 56’), Disha Ponnamma Mu (29’, 48’, 57’), Bollamma Pm (34’) and Punya SR (40’).
The second game ended in a 2-2 draw between Hockey Andhra Pradesh and Kerala Hockey. Lekshmi D (12′) scored for Kerala Hockey, but Captain Bobbili Jhansi (28′) and Dokku Himaja (44′) scored a goal each to put Hockey Andhra Pradesh ahead. A penalty corner conversion by Abhay Jyothi AS (47′) ensured that the points were shared at the end of the game.
The last match of the day saw the Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu beat Telangana Hockey by a 9-0 scoreline. Archana S (19’, 44’), Swathi S (22’), Priya Dharsini (26’, 47’, 58’) and Captain Gobika M (28’, 50’, 51’) scored for the Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu.
East Zone: Hockey Mizoram and Hockey Jharkhand women’s teams win big
In the 1st Hockey India Junior Women East Zone Championship 2023 being held in Khunti (Ranchi), Jharkhand, Hockey Mizoram beat Hockey Bengal 18-0. Goals were scored by Lalpeksangi Lalpeksangi (8’, 42’, 54’), Lal Tlanchhungi (10’), Captain Lalthantluangi (12’, 16’, 39’, 58’), Vanlalrinhlui (19’, 29’, 30’, 37’), Lalrinpuii (27’), Vanlalhriatpuii (28’, 36’, 41’, 45’), F. Vanlalhriatlawmi (48’).
In the other match, Hockey Jharkhand beat Hockey Bihar 11-0. Captain Edlin Bage (2’, 10’), Niru Kullu (7’), Rajni Kerketta (9’), Pinki Kumari (12’, 24’), Roshni Aind (20’, 56’, 59’), Nisha Minj (37’) and Parwati Topno (58’) scored to win.
The match between Hockey Association of Odisha and Assam Hockey was underway, with Hockey Association of Odisha leading 11-0.
West Zone: Hockey Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh Hockey secure win in both categories
In the 1st Hockey India Junior Men and Junior Women West Zone Championship 2023 being held at Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, Hockey Maharashtra beat Hockey Rajasthan 5-1 in the men’s category. Kartik Ramesh Patare (30′, 55′, 55′) scored a hat-trick, while Captain Jay Kale (8′), and Raj Rajesh Pawar (56′) scored a goal each for Hockey Maharashtra. Rahul Choudhary scored the consolation goal for Hockey Rajasthan in the 18th minute.
In the second match of the day, Chhattisgarh Hockey beat Hockey Gujarat 15-1. Harsh Sahu (8′, 14′, 32′, 58), Karan Kumar Sahu (22′, 24′, 40′), and Prakash Patel (41′, 59, 52′) scored a hat-trick each, while Shreyansh Chourasia (9′), Himanshu Singh Rautela (26′), Sharik Ahmad Khan (42′), Captain Vishnu Yadav (49′), and Neeraj Kumar Singh (60′) scored a goal each for Chhattisgarh Hockey. Mayankkumar Halapati (45′) scored the only goal for Hockey Gujarat.
In the Junior Women’s category, Hockey Maharashtra beat Hockey Rajasthan 4-2 in the first match. Tanishka Sanjay Shinde (29′, 31′, 55′) scored a hat-trick while Sanjana Khetawat (12′) scored a goal for Hockey Maharashtra. Meanwhile, Captain Chetna Rani Das (45′, 60′) scored a brace for Hockey Rajasthan.
In the second match of the day, Chhattisgarh Hockey beat Hockey Gujarat 16-0. Skipper Mamteshwari Lahare (35′, 45′, 48′, 50′, 60′) scored five goals, while Geeta Yadav scored four goals (27′, 30′, 37′, 59′) to set up the win for Chhattisgarh Hockey. Sonam Sahu (40′, 41′, 53′) scored a hat-trick, while Aksa Parveen (23′), Janvee Yadav (28′), Anjali (32′), and Rohina Kerketta (54′) scored one goal each.
