Results from Day 8 of 8th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship 2018 (B Division)

Imphal (Manipur), 14 January 2018: Action in the 8th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship 2018 (B Division) continued today into its eighth day with Hockey Madhya Bharat, Punjab National Bank, Delhi Hockey and Bengal Hockey Association, all winning their respective Pool matches of the competition.

In the opening match of the day, it was Hockey Madhya Bharat who won their first match of the competition when they beat Hockey Himachal 4-3 in a very competitive Pool F encounter. Hockey Madhya Bharat started the match well as they scored one goal each in the first three quarters to take a 3-0 advantage into the fourth quarter. However, Hockey Himachal scored three goals in the last quarter to make it a nervy finish for Hockey Madhya Bharat. However, the latter also came up with a goal in the last quarter which proved to be the difference. Goals for Hockey Madhya Bharat were scored by Nitish Gond (7′, 53′), Nitin Kumar Usrete (30′) and Sahil Tiwari (44′) while a brace from Gaurav Kumar (50′, 54′) and a goal from Naurvi Ram (58′) made up Hockey Himachal’s three goals.

In another Pool F match, Punjab National Bank beat Kerala Hockey 11-0 to register their second consecutive win. The match saw Punjab National Bank maintain their scoring form throughout the four quarters, scoring at least a couple in each quarter. Goals for the victors were scored by Gurjinder Singh (15′, 20′, 41′), Gursimran Singh (25′, 45′), Naveen Antil (51′, 53′), Sukhjeet Singh (14′), Satender Dalal (24′), Shivdeep Dawara (33′) and Gagandeep Singh Sr. (33′).

In Pool G, Delhi Hockey beat Hockey Rajasthan 14-1 to maintain their winning run in the competition. It was a great attacking display from Delhi Hockey as they scored 13 goals without reply until the 58th minute of the match. Hockey Rajasthan popped up with a consolation goal in the 60th minute as they scored through a penalty corner which was converted by Sukhvinder Singh. Goals for Delhi Hockey were scored by Parveen Kumar (36′, 39′, 44′, 54′), Arun Kumar (17′, 35′, 56′), captain Vijay Kumar Maurya (8′, 58′), Neeraj Kumar (24′, 30′), Sumit Kumar (45′), Manish Sharma (48′) and Pawan Singh Chauhan (60′).

Hockey Uttarakhand and Hockey Coorg played out a 1-1 draw in Pool H as both teams produced a great defensive performance. It was Hockey Uttarakhand who finally broke the deadlock in the 52nd minute of the match through Vijay Pal and it looked like that would prove to be the winner. But Hockey Coorg made a comeback in the match as they scored in the 57th minute through R Punith to play out a 1-1 draw.

It was Bengal Hockey Association who kept their 100% record in Pool H intact, as they won their second consecutive match of the competition when they beat Hockey Jammu & Kashmir 4-3 in a very entertaining match. Bengal Hockey Association took a 3-0 lead after 22 minutes, but Hockey Jammu & Kashmir fought back into the match as the scored their first goal in the 24th minute through Captain Jasprit Singh. However, Bengal Hockey Association scored their fourth goal in the 42nd minute to seal the match. Hockey Jammu & Kashmir did score two more goals in the 44th minute through two consecutive penalty corners which were converted by their Captain Jasprit Singh who ended up scoring a hat-trick. Goals for Bengal Hockey Association were scored by Nitish Neupane (11′, 22′), Taranveer Singh (4′), and captain Shariq Mohammad (42′).