Aurangabad (Maharashtra), 22 February 2019: Action in the 9th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship 2019 (A Division) continued here at the Sports Authority of India Campus on Friday, into its sixth day, which saw Hockey Punjab, Hockey Chandigarh, Hockey Haryana, Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy, Hockey Gangpur-Odisha, Uttar Pradesh Hockey and Hockey Bihar register victories in their respective Pool matches.

In Pool A, Hockey Punjab defeated Hockey Himachal 6-0 in their last Pool match to secure their place in the Quarter Finals of the competition as the second placed team with a tally of seven points from four matches. Goals in the match for Hockey Himachal were scored by Surdarshan Singh (8′, 41′), Parteek Sharma (15′), Jaspreet Singh (25′), Gurpal Singh (26′) and Vishaljit Singh (44′) to see their team progress in the competition.

In the other Pool A match, Hockey Chandigarh defeated Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu 4-1 to progress as the Pool toppers with a tally of 10 points. The last Pool match for both the teams saw Hockey Chandigarh score four goals inside 17 minutes to stamp their authority, while Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu could only score a consolation goal in the 20th minute through S Karthi. Goals for Hockey Chandigarh were scored by Hashim (3′, 7′) and Captain Maninder Singh (14′, 17′).

In Pool B, Hockey Haryana finished top of the Pool standings with 12 points from their four matches as they beat The Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd. 3-0 on Friday. For Hockey Haryana, it was Sunny Malik who scored a brace, scoring in the 31st and 56th minutes, while Ankush also got his name on the score-sheet with a goal off a Penalty Corner in the 19th minute.

The other team to qualify for the Quarter Finals from Pool B was Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy as they beat Manipur Hockey 5-0 to finish as the second-ranked team in the Pool. Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy, Hockey Jharkhand and Manipur Hockey, all finished with a tally of six points each, but Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy had a better goal difference than the other two teams. On Friday, it was Akshay Awasthi (54′, 57′) who scored a brace, while Ali Haider (3′), Akhtar Ali (9′) and Mohd. Alishan (52′) also scored for Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy.

In Pool C, Hockey Gangpur-Odisha defeated Hockey Karnataka by a slim margin of 1-0 to finish in the second place in the Pool standings. Puran Kerketta’s goal in the 59th minute of the match saw Hockey Gangpur-Odisha finish with a tally of eight points from four matches, just finishing behind Pool-toppers Uttar Pradesh Hockey on goal difference.

The other Pool C match saw Uttar Pradesh Hockey register a comfortable 3-0 win over Delhi Hockey to finish top of the Pool with eight points. It was a heart-breaking loss for Delhi Hockey as they were on top of the Pool before the final two Pool fixtures with a tally of seven points from three matches, but their 0-3 loss to Uttar Pradesh Hockey meant that they finished third in the Pool. Goals in the match for Uttar Pradesh Hockey were scored by Sahabaz Khan (28′), Uttam Singh (44′) and Ajay Yadav (59′).

Pool D’s only match of the day saw Hockey Bihar register a narrow 1-0 win over Punjab & Sind Bank to remain in the hunt for a Quarter Finals’ spot. The only goal of the match came in the 38th minute when Hockey Bihar’s Pinkal Barla scored off a Penalty Corner to secure all three points. It will be two interesting final Pool D matches as Hockey Bihar will be up against Hockey Odisha, while Sports Authority of India and Steel  Plant Sports Board, will both have a chance to progress as they face off on Saturday.

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