Hockey nationals: Railways face Haryana, MP up against Maharashtra in semis

Defending champions Railways, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra would take their shot at their spots in the final at the semi-finals of the 9th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2019 (A Division), here on Sunday. In the first semi-final, defending champions Railways will take on Haryana. The match is expected to be competitive as both the teams have registered emphatic victories in their respective quarter-finals. Railways thrashed Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 7-0, while Haryana beat Jharkhand 8-3.

All eyes will be on the forwards of the defending champions as they have scored 51 goals in the five matches that they have played so far, with Navneet Kaur being the top-scorer in the competition with 10 goals and Vandana Katariya in the second place with seven goals. On the other hand, Haryana have only scored 22 goals in the competition with their highest scorer being Devika Sen with four goals. But they will be looking to win the semi-final after losing out at this stage last year as well.

The second semi-final will see last year's runners-up Madhya Pradesh go up against Maharashtra. Madhya Pradesh made their way through to the quarter-finals after winning three of their four Pool B matches and then defeated Karnataka by 1-0 in the last eight stage. They have scored 19 goals.

Maharashtra, which have eclipsed their last year's quarter-final finish, will be looking to spring another surprise after defeating Punjab in the quarter-finals on Friday. Out of Maharashtra's 16 goals, forward H. Lalruatfeli has scored six and will be looking to step up again against Madhya Pradesh on Sunday.