All-India U-16 hockey: HAR Academy to meet SAIL in final

Pune, Nov 14 (IANS) HAR Hockey Academy, Sonepat, and SAIL Hockey Academy, Odisha will meet in the final of the 5th SNBP All-India Hockey Tournament (Boys' Under-16) at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex here on Monday.

In the semi-finals played on Sunday, HAR Hockey Academy were lucky to get past hosts SNBP via the shoot-out (2-0) after both played out a 2-2 draw while SAIL defeated Regional Development Centre, Jharkhand, 6-1 in a one-sided encounter in the other semi-final.

In the first semi-final, SNBP were off to a great start when Fahad Khan (8th) converted a penalty stroke, beating goalkeeper Aniket with his attempt. The goal triggered a series of attacks by HAR Academy, which put the SNBP defence under pressure. Two minutes later, Sonepat had Sahil Ruhal (10th) bring the game back on level terms (1-1).

A confident team from Haryana scored another goal to take the lead, with Nitin Parmar (11th) gliding the ball past the SNBP goalkeeper Rahul Pal.

Trailing by a goal, SNBP played out the second and third quarters trying hard but failed to make inroads. Into the fourth quarter, SNBP finally gave the home crowd erupt in joy when Akash Pal hit a reverse flick from the top of the circle past the goalkeeper.

In the shoot-out, the Sonepat squad were lucky to have the goal framework save them the day. Three SNBP attempts crashed onto the goal frame. Sonepat in contrast had Raman, Ravinder Khasa find success to help their team make the final.

Later, in the second semifinal, SAIL Hockey Academy, Odisha, led by a brace of goals by Ekka Amol Jr. (3rd, 27th), Ritik Kujur (7th, 8th), and Rabi Bada (40th, 46th), romped to a one-sided 6-1 win over Regional Development Centre, Jharkhand. Guriya Phillip (26th) reduced the margin for the Jharkhand side.

RESULTS:

HAR Hockey Academy, Sonepat 2 (Sahil Ruhal 10th; Nitin Parmar 11th) bt SNBP Academy, Pune 2 (Fahad Khan 8th; Akash Pal 49th) -- 2-0 via shoot-out.

SAIL Hockey Academy, Odisha 6 (Ekka Amol Jr. 3rd, 27th; Ritik Kujur 7th, 8th; Rabi Bada 40th, 46th) bt Regional Development Centre, Jharkhand 1 (Guriya Phillip 26th)