Pune, 20th March, 2024: Hockey Madhya Pradesh, Hockey Haryana and Hockey Jharkhand qualified for the semifinals of the 14th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2024 at the Major Dhyanchand Hockey Stadium Nehrunagar, Pimpri on Wednesday.
In the first quarterfinal of the day, Hockey Madhya Pradesh beat Hockey Bengal 4-3 in a shoot-out after both the teams were locked 1-1 at the end of regulation of 60 minutes.
In regulation time, Hockey Bengal took the lead in the 30th minute through a penalty corner conversion by Maxima Toppo, which was neutralised by Aishwarya Chavan (45th) from a field goal.
In the shoot-out, Chavan, Preeti Dubey and skipper Ishika Chaudhary found the net once each for Hockey Madhya Pradesh, while Anisha Dungdung, Sanjna Horo and Sushmita Panna found the target for Hockey Bengal, forcing the contest into sudden death, where Chavan was successful but Bengal
Lily Oram failed.
In the second quarterfinal, Deepika (5th, 14th minutes) struck a brace — first from a penalty corner and then from field play — to hand favourites Hockey Haryana 4-1 win over Hockey Association of Odisha.
Besides Deepika, Indian internationals Neha Goyal (39th) and Navneet Kaur (54th) also registered their names in the scoresheet for Hockey Haryana.
The Hockey Association of Odisha lone strike came from the stick of Neha Lakra in the 42nd minute.
In the penultimate quarterfinal, Hockey Jharkhand edged past Hockey Mizoram 2-1 to enter the semifinals.
Deepika Soreng (27th) and Sangita Kumari (33rd) scored two field goals for Hockey Jharkhand, while India striker Lalremsiami (35th) found the net once for Hockey Mizoram.
Later in the evening, Hockey Maharashtra will take on Manipur Hockey in another final quarter final match to complete the semifinal line-up.
In the semifinals to be played on Friday, Hockey Haryana will take on Hockey Jharkhand, while Hockey Madhya Pradesh will play the winner of the final quarterfinal between Hockey Maharashtra and Manipur Hockey.
RESULTS:
QF1: Hockey Madhya Pradesh: 1 (4) (Aishwarya Chavan (45th – p.c; Aishwarya Chavan, Preeti Dubey, Ishika Chaudhary – p.s; Aishwarya Chavan) bt Hockey Bengal 1 (3) (Maxima Toppo 30th – p.c; Anisha Dudgdung, Horo Sanjna, Sushmita Panna). HT: 0-0
QF3: Hockey Haryana: 4 (Deepika 5th – p.c, 14th; Neha Goyal 39th; Navneet Kaur 54th) bt Hockey Association of Orissa: 1 (Neha Lakra 42th). HT: 2-0
QF4: Hockey Jharkhand: 2 (Deepika Soreng 11th; Sangita Kumari 33rd) bt Hockey Mizoram: 1 (Lalreisiami 35th). HT: 1-0.
