Rajgir (Bihar), April 7 Chandigarh, Haryana, Odisha, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu registered victories in their respective Division ‘A’ matches at the 16th Hockey India Sub Junior Men National Championship here on Tuesday.
In the first match of the day, Chandigarh staged a spirited comeback to defeat Maharashtra 5–3 in a pulsating Pool A match.
Maharashtra drew first blood through Pravin Patiyal Pratham (21’), but Chandigarh skipper Sahil Duhan (27’) responded swiftly to restore parity.
Rehan Shafi Khan (32’) put Maharashtra back in front soon after the break, yet Chandigarh showed resilience once again. Goals from Parambir Singh (46’) and Arjandeep Singh (53’) turned the tide in their favour, giving them a crucial one-goal lead.
Maharashtra refused to back down, with Rehan Shafi Khan (56’) scoring his second of the match to level proceedings.
However, the momentum swung decisively in Chandigarh’s favour as Parambir Singh (56’) completed his brace moments later, before Afridi (57’) put the result beyond doubt, sealing an emphatic 5–3 victory.
The second game of the day saw Hockey Haryana register a comfortable 3–0 win over Hockey Manipur in their Pool C clash. Aditya Kumar (11’), Ashish (16’) and Rohit (42’) were the goal scorers.
Odisha delivered a dominant performance, thrashing Kerala 8–0 in their Pool D match with Deepak Prakash Toppo (13’), Mohan Majhi (18’, 48’), Amandeep Dang (38’), Manesh Naik (41’), Bikash Majhi (45’), Mithles Kerketta (52’) and Bipul Tirkey (57’) scoring.
In the fourth and final match of the day, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu Hockey registered a commanding 6–0 victory over Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu in their Pool B encounter.
Dhiraj Pal (20’, 54’) and Abhishek Pal (31’, 60’) scored a brace each while Ajay Yadav (17’) and Pawan Yadav (47’) also resgistered their names on the scoresheet.