Sr men's national hockey: Delhi upset defending champions Punjab 3-2

Bhopal, April 8 (IANS) Delhi Hockey caused a big upset in 12th Hockey India Senior Men's National Championship 2022, edging defending champions Hockey Punjab 3-2 in a Pool A match here on Friday.

On a day that saw some close matches being played in the senior nationals, Hockey Delhi made a stunning start today.

In the first Pool A match, Hockey Punjab faced off against Delhi Hockey in a close contest. Dheeraj Vats opened the scoring in the 10th minute for Delhi Hockey. But Lovepreet Jainth immediately found the equaliser in the 13th minute of the match.

Mehkeet Singh scored the second goal in the 14th minute but Dheeraj Vats struck again in the 25th minute to level the score. Both the teams defended well in the third and fourth quarters, but just before the final whistle, Rohit scored the winner in the 60th minute as Delhi Hockey beat Hockey Punjab 3-2.

In the second match of the day, Hockey Chandigarh faced off against Hockey Jharkhand in a hard-fought contest.

Kawaljit Singh opened the scoring in the 7th minute of the match for Hockey Chandigarh, but captain Anurud Bhengra scored the equaliser in the 17th minute for his team.

Hockey Jharkhand surged ahead when Noyel Topno scored their second goal in the 23rd minute. But Mohit found the equaliser in the 37th minute for Hockey Chandigarh. Manohar Mundu scored the third and the winning goal for Hockey Jharkhand, who defended well in the final quarter to win the Pool E match 3-2.

In the third match of the day, Hockey Jammu & Kashmir played out a thrilling 3-3 draw against Dadra & Nagar Haveli And Daman & Diu Hockey.

Sohil Azeem opened the scoring for Hockey Jammu Jammu & Kashmir in the 15th minute but Nabin Kujur scored the equaliser straightaway in the 16th minute. Balmeet Singh gave Hockey Jammu & Kashmir the lead back again in the 22nd minute along with Manpreet Singh, who scored the third goal for Jammu & Kashmir in the 25th minute. However, Vijendra Singh scored the third goal for Dadra & Nagar Haveli And Daman & Diu Hockey in the 47th minute to level the scoreline once again.

In the fourth match, Hockey Bengal faced off against Le Puducherry Hockey in the first Pool F contest of the day. The two teams put on a solid defensive performance in the first quarter, but Captain Vinodhan broke the deadlock in the second quarter, scoring the first goal for Le Puducherry Hockey in the 20th minute.

In the 24th minute, Alsem Lakra scored the equaliser to make it 1-1. Rajendra Oram scored the second goal for Hockey Bengal in the 34th minute, but R. Ranjith levelled the score again in the 45th minute. Amon Mirash Tirkey scored the winner in the 54th minute as Hockey Bengal beat Le Puducherry Hockey 3-2.

The final match of the day was a Pool F game between Hockey Gujarat and Hockey Arunachal. Dhiraj Nain opened the scoring in the 5th minute for Hockey Arunachal, but Captain Shubham Yadav found the equaliser in the 7th minute.

The two teams defended well in the second quarter, but Kushal Babarmal Meghwal gave Hockey Gujarat the lead in the 32nd minute. Deepak levelled the score once again, scoring the second goal for Hockey Arunachal in the 47th minute. The two teams kept each other at bay in the closing quarter until Sahilkumar Rathod scored the winner in the 60th minute for Hockey Gujarat as Hockey Gujarat beat Hockey Arunachal 3-2.