New Delhi, May 12 (Hindustan Times). With the quarterfinal stage of the 13th Hockey India Sub-Junior Women’s National Championship 2023 coming to an end on Thursday, the tournament has now moved towards the semi-finals. The tournament is being held at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela, Odisha. Hockey Association of Odisha, Hockey Haryana, Hockey Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh Hockey have made it to the last four of the tournament.
Hockey Association of Odisha beat Hockey Madhya Pradesh 2-1 in the last quarterfinal match, Hockey Haryana beat Hockey Karnataka 14-0 in the knockout game. Also, Hockey Jharkhand registered an 11-0 win against Hockey Chandigarh, while Uttar Pradesh Hockey thrashed Hockey Punjab 6-0 to make it to the last four. Hockey Jharkhand will face Uttar Pradesh Hockey and defending champions Hockey Haryana will face Odisha Hockey Association in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, talking about his experience in the tournament so far, Hockey Association of Odisha Manager cum Coach Mohd. Ismail said, “It has been a great tournament for us so far. We have been able to execute our plans on the field which is the main reason for our victory. Even in the quarterfinal match against Hockey Madhya Pradesh, we came under pressure. Despite that, we stuck to our plans, which helped us come back and win the match.”
Talking about the team’s preparation for the semi-finals, Ismail said, “Hockey Haryana is, undoubtedly, a very good team, but we are ready to give them a tough fight. Also, the important win against Hockey Madhya Pradesh It has boosted our confidence level and made us believe that we are capable of overcoming any challenge.” Also, Uttar Pradesh hockey coach Jitendra Singh Bhadauria said that they are confident of defeating Hockey Jharkhand in the semi-finals.
“We have played some good hockey in the tournament and executed our strategies well. Also, we have beaten some good teams in the competition so far. So, we will look to continue our momentum and look forward to our next game,” he added. We are confident of defeating Hockey Jharkhand.”
Notably, Shashi Khasa (19 goals) has been the top scorer for Haryana Hockey in the tournament so far, while Sweety Dungdung (14 goals) has been the leading scorer for Hockey Jharkhand. For the Hockey Association of Odisha, Doli Bhoi is the top scorer (8), while for Uttar Pradesh Hockey, Vandana Patel has scored the most goals (5) in the competition so far. Interestingly, all the four semi-finalist teams are yet to lose a match in the competition.
