Chennai, 09 January 2019: The third day at the 9th Hockey India Senior National Hockey Championship 2019 (Men) B Division in Chennai, Tamil Nadu saw some strong performances in the Group Stage matches with Hockey Maharashtra, Sashastra Seema Bal, Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu, Hockey Andhra Pradesh, Hockey Puducherry, Major Port Sports Control Board, Hockey Coorg, Delhi Hockey, Sports Authority of India, Bengal Hockey Association, Sports Authority of Gujarat – Hockey Academy and All India Police Sports Control Board registering victories to keep their Quarter Finals hope alive.

In Pool A match today, Hockey Maharashtra beat Uttarakhand 7-3 in a high-intensity match. Aniket Gurav (25′), Ajit Shinde (32′, 50′, 59′), Rahul Rasala (35′), Taleb Shah (38′, 47′) scored in Hockey Maharashtra win while Pradeep Singh Bisht (36′), Vikas Pant (37′) and Kailash Singh Jalal (52′) scored for Hockey Uttarakhand.

In a high-scoring Pool B encounter, Sashastra Seema Bal scored a sensational 22-0 win against Hockey Andaman & Nicobar. Agandeep Singh (23′, 26′, 31′, 33′, 40′, 59′) scored a brilliant six goals while Suhel MD (4′, 60′), Vishal Yadav (12′, 28′, 51′), Naveen Kumar (15′, 16′), Francis Toppo (34′, 35′, 52′), Joychandra Lisham (37′), Ashutosh Kumar (42′), Ajit Phairenbam (43′), Vinay Vishwkarma (48′), Sandeep Kumar (49′) and Santikumar Aribam (54′) added to the scoreline for Sashastra Seema Bal.

Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu beat Central Industrial Security Force 4-2 in a closely fought match. The two teams remained on par with each other with scores leveled at 2-2 in the 43rd minute. It was Benedict Wesely Joshua (7′) and V Vinod Rayer (34′) who had scored for Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu and Atif Ateeq (30′) and Niraj Yadav (43′) who had scored for Central Industrial Security to equalize. However it was K Selvaraj (45′) and Manikandan (58′) goals that helped Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu take lead and eventually register a win.

In another Pool C match, Hockey Andhra Pradesh beat Hockey Mizoram 5-1. Aron Tatiparthi (37′, 57′, 60′) starred for the winning team with hat-trick of goals while Swaski Madu (13′) and Veera Yedia (38′) added to the scoreline for the winning team. Lalhruaitluanga (54′) scored the lone goal for Hockey Mizoram.

Hockey Puducherry, on the other hand, beat Assam Hockey 8-2 in their Pool G encounter. A Tamilarasan (4′, 11′), M Manikandan (9′), N Kamalakannan (30′), R Ranjith (36′), N Sellamuthu (39′), S Muthukrishnan (51′) and S Surjith (53′) scored in Hockey Puducherry’s victory while Shubham Singh (48′) and A Jotin Singh (49′) scored for Assam Hockey.

Major Port Sports Control Board beat Andhra Hockey Association 4-2 in their Pool D match. Ainul Haq (27′, 30′) and Ravi Panche (40′, 43′) scored in Major Port Sports Control Board’s win while P Kullayappa (55′) and K Siva (57′) scored for Andhra Hockey Association.

Hockey Coorg beat Hockey Madhya Bharat 9-0 in their Pool H match. SP Deekshit (6′), Sridhar N (12′, 35′), IA Poovanna (37′), PA Machaiah (40′), Rohan Thimmaiah (45′), R Nachappa (47′), CK Mokshith Uthappa (58′) and Rohan Thimmaiah KN (60′) scored for the victorious Hockey Coorg.

Another closely fought match in Pool E saw Delhi Hockey beat Hockey Rajasthan 3-2. Pawan Chauhan (41′), Rajiv (44′) and Amit (58′) scored for Delhi Hockey while Ritesh Saini (51′) and Purshotam Bagdi (53′) scored for Hockey Rajasthan.

Sports Authority of India beat Goans Hockey 4-0 in their Pool H match. Lokesh Bora (6′), Mohit Kumar (23′), Sanjit Beck (34′) and Boby Singh Dhami (51′) scored in their victory.

In a Pool E encounter, Bengal Hockey Association beat Kerala Hockey 8-2. Alsem Lakra (7′, 21′), Abhinandan Thakur (20′), Jony Kumar (27′), Munish Ahamad (45′, 56′), Nitish Neupane (49′) and Saurabh Kumar Singh (54′) scored to help Bengal Hockey Association win. S Shijin (32′) and R Rejil (34′) scored through penalty corners for Kerala Hockey. While in a Pool F match, Sports Authority of Gujarat- Hockey Academy beat Hockey Himachal 3-1. Though Jaswinder Singh’s goal in the 2nd minute got an early lead for Hockey Himachal, Akash Shelar (27′), Nikal Asari (41′) and Ruchit Patel (48′) scored to help Sports Authority of Gujarat – Hockey Academy win the match with ease. In a Pool H match, All India Police Sports Control Board beat Steel Plant Sports Board 1-0 with the help of Varinder Singh’s lone goal in the 58th minute.