Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), 03 May 2018: The Quarter-finals of the 8th Hockey India Junior Women National Championship 2018 (A Division) took place here today which saw Hockey Haryana, Uttar Pradesh Hockey, Hockey Gangpur-Odisha and Hockey Jharkhand progress to the Semi-finals of the competition after registering victories in their respective matches.

In the first Quarter-final, it was Hockey Haryana who held on to their one goal lead as they defeated Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 1-0 to secure a place in the Semi-finals. The match saw Hockey Haryana score early in the 12th minute through Amrinder Kaur and defended well throughout the two halves to snatch the victory against a strong Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy team.

The second Quarter-final saw Uttar Pradesh Hockey defeat Hockey Mizoram 1-0 where the only goal of the match came in the 28th minute when Uttar Pradesh Hockey’s Sonal Tiwari found the back of the net to give her team an important lead. Hockey Mizoram tried to make a comeback into the match but Uttar Pradesh Hockey’s resolute defending saw them keep their lead intact till the final whistle and register a place in the Semi-finals.

In the third Quarter-final, Hockey Gangpur-Odisha defeated  Hockey Odisha 3-1 in the Penalty Shootout after the scores were level at 2-2 after regulation time. The match saw Hockey Odisha take the lead in the 6th minute but Hockey Gangpur-Odisha struck back in the 11th minute to level the scores. Hockey Odisha scored a second goal in the 20th minute but their opponents struck again in the second half to level the scores at 2-2. Goals for Hockey Odisha were scored by Elima Minz (6′) and Ashmita Barla (20′) while Namrata Jasmin Bara (11′) and Janhabi Pradhan (38′) scored the goals for Hockey Gangpur-Odisha. In the Penalty Shootout, Rojita Kujur, Janhabi Pradhan and skipper Jiwan Kishori Toppo were on target for Hockey Gangpur-Odisha while Hockey Odisha’s captain Ajmina Kujur was the only one on target for her team as their opponents won 3-1.

In the fourth Quarter-final, it was Hockey Jharkhand secured an emphatic 9-0 victory over Sports Authority of India. The match was dominated by Hockey Jharkhand as they registered a place in the Semi-finals with the help of goals from Sangita Kumari (19′, 27′, 51′), Beauty Dungdung (3′, 40′), Pinki Ekka (52′), Salima Tete (64′), Sushma Kumari (66′) and Albela Rani Toppo (70′).