Haryana A’, Punjab in semis

CHANDIGARH, July 30: Haryana A' thrashed Chandigarh B' 8-0 in their last league encounter to move into the semifinal of the second Inde...

CHANDIGARH, July 30: Haryana A’ thrashed Chandigarh B’ 8-0 in their last league encounter to move into the semifinal of the second Independence Gold Cup Hockey tournament being played at Sector 42 Hockey Stadium. Chandigarh players failed to take initiative and lost the opportunity to gain a berth in the last four stage of the meet. Though they kept the Haryana’s attackers at bay for the first fifteen minutes of the play but were unable to sustain their efforts, paving the way for Haryana’s victory.

On the other hand, Haryana’s forward line, with short and accurate passes, breached the rival defence line.

Damandeep’s excellent ball control put Haryana ahead in the 16th minute. He was again on the target in the 23rd and 48th minutes to score a hat-trick.

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Buoyed up by the lead, Haryana took the field in the second half with renewed energy to further increase the margin.

Amritveer struck in the 53rd minute (4-0). Two minutes later Meharban made it 5-0. He again put the ball across the keeper in the 58th minute to give Haryana a 6-0 lead. Ranjeet scored the seventh goal in the 61st minute while Damandeep scored his fourth and the team’s eighth in the dying moments of the contest.

While the two Punjab sides made it to the semifinal stage, Chandigarh A’ suffered a 6-0 defeat at the hands of Punjab A’.

Punjab did not have to sweat to score victory over a hapless Chandigarh A’ who had a poor record in the league matches, losing all the encounters. Punjab scored all six goals in the first session and played at a leisurely pace in the second half.

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Jarnail Singh got three goals while Manbir Singh, Harbinder Singh and Harpal Singh struck one each.

Himachal Pradesh B’ outclassed Haryana B’ 4-1 in the last league match to book a berth in the semifinal. HP’s skipper Pulkit was the main architect of the team’s victory today. Himachal shot into the lead through Pulkit in the 22nd minute but five minutes later Mandeep scored an equaliser (1-1).

In the second session, a spirited Himachal put up a brave fight and earned as many as 13 penalty corners. They were successful in converted in the 45th minute when Pulkit slid the ball into goal. He consolidated the lead in the 53rd minute (3-1) while Chetan made it 4-1 in the 59th.

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