Karnataka eves storm into quarters
Punjab, Karnataka and Jharkhand cruised into the quarterfinals of the first Hockey India senior women’s national championship with easy wins over their respective pool rivals at the Motilal Nehru Sports School here on Tuesday.
Striker Ramandeep scored as many as nine goals, including a double hat trick, to help Punjab trounce Tripura 20-0 in a Pool D match. Apart from Ramandeep, Vartika Singh, Kirandeep Kaur and Baljinder scored three goals each for Punjab while Harmanjit and Manbir completed the tally with goal apiece against a hapless Tripura side.
In Pool B, Karnataka thrashed Jammu & Kashmir 17-0 with Ponnamma finding the target six times, including three penalty corner conversions and a penalty stroke. The other goal scorers for Karnataka were Saira Banu (3), Rakshitha, Laxmi and Kulsumbi (2 each) and Muthamma and Harinakshi (1 each).
Jharkhand, meanwhile, routed Kerala 12-0 to move into the last eight round from Pool E. Sarika, Sabna, Shilwani, Renuka and Anima (2 each) and Nikki and Punita (1 each) were the goal scorers for Jharkhand.
In other matches of the day, Andhra Pradesh beat Uttarakhand 3-0 while Maharashtra defeated Rajasthan and Delhi outclassed Tamil Nadu by an identical 4-1 margin. Punjab will face Karnataka in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
