Hockey Nationals: Defending champions MP move to quarters

Defending champions Madhya Pradesh entered the quarterfinals with a 7-1 win over Bihar at the Senior Women's National Championship here on Thursday.

Hritika Singh (45', 50', 60') scored a hat trick, while Aishwarya Chavan (6'), Preeti Dubey (9'), Kanchan Nidhi Kerketta (32') and skipper Ishika Chaudhary (33') also registered their names on the scoresheet for MP.

The solitary goal for Bihar came from the stick of Ebha Kerketta in the final quarter as Hockey Madhya Pradesh went on to top Pool A and qualify for the knock-outs.

Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand played out a thrilling 2-2 draw in a star-studded match, while Telangana and Bengal won their respective matches at the Major Dhyanchand Hockey Stadium Pimpri.

Jharkhand found the back of the net first with Indian team midfielder Salima Tete (15') scoring a field goal at the end of the first quarter. They went on to double their lead when Reshma Soreng (19') converted a penalty corner as the first half ended with Hockey Jharkhand two goals in front.

The game was far from over as Uttar Pradesh Hockey reduced the deficit to one goal after a penalty corner conversion from Indian team forward Mumtaz Khan (34') in the third quarter before Bano Hina (47') converted yet another penalty corner early in the final quarter to equalize. With both teams coming close to taking the decisive lead, but neither being able to break through each other's defence, the game ended in a draw with the score reading 2-2 and the two teams earning one point each from the game.

Telangana defeated Hockey Gujarat 12-0. Telangana Captain Edula Jyothi (24', 26', 27') led from the front with a hat trick, while Sri Chandana Gandhapu (9', 37'), Harleen Kour Sardarni (14', 47') and Preethi Dharla (25', 57') scored a brace each. Anusha Chekkala (44'), Akhila Mandla (45') and Varshitha Muppala (56') also scored for Telangana.

The fourth game of the day saw Bengal defeat Tamil Nadu 2-0 in their Pool H game. The two goals for Hockey Bengal were field goals that came from Sushmita Gandha (21') and Sushmita Panna (38').

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)