Karnataka bow out despite victory

 Karnataka beat Bhopal 3-2 to post their first win of the tournament but failed to make the semifinals of the Junior National Hockey Championships (A Division) here on Friday.

The hosts, who had drawn with Manipur in their opening match and lost to Odisha subsequently, finished the group stage with four points and bowed out of the championship.
Odisha (9 points), with an all-win performance, marched into the last four stage from Pool B.

MD Raheel gave Karnataka the lead in the 12th minute but Amir-ur-Rehman’s lovely field goal brought Bhopal level in the 26th minute.

Vasanth Kumar Y G restored Karnataka’s advantage a minute later but in the second half, Harshal Sharma scored in the 41st minute to bring Bhopal back into the game.

Captain Somaiah Kuppanda then clinched the Pool B game for Karnataka with a strike in the 60th minute.

In another Pool B match, Odisha trounced Manipur 6-1.
In Pool D, Jharkhand, riding on five goals from Nitesh Kiro, outclassed Sports Authority of India 10-2, while Himachal beat Chhattisgarh 3-0. Jugraj Singh (23rd minute, 25th minute) and Abhishek (50th minute) scored for the winners.

Results: Pool A: Punjab: 4 (Ajmer Singh 1st min, 17th; Simranjeet Singh 21st, Ajit Pandit 66th) bt Services Sports Control Board: 1 (Bishram Dodray 53rd).

Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy: 4 (Modh Nizamuddin 9th, Arjun Sharma 26th, 37th, 68th) vs Maharashtra: 3 (Jay Singh Dulla 14th, Ajinkya Jadhav 18th, Aniket Gurav 56th).
Pool B: Odisha: 6 (Suman Kujur 18th, 42nd, Nitin Mukesh Tigga 22nd, 60th, Sumit Toppo 65th, Sudhir Kujur 69th) bt Manipur: 1 (Mani Huidrom 6th).

Karnataka: 3 (M D Raheel 12th, Vasanth Kumar Y G 27th, Somaiah Kuppanda 60th) bt Bhopal: 2 (Amir-Ur-Rehman 26th, Harshal Sharma 41st).

Pool D: Jharkhand: 10 (Nitesh Kiro 5th, 26th, 34th, 42nd, 60th, Premchand Kongari 29th, 55th, Buddu Tuti 51st, 52nd, 67th) vs Sports Authority of India: 2 (Ajay Yadav 12th, Patras Kujur 20th).

Himachal: 3 (Jugraj Singh 23rd, 25th, Abhishek 50th) vs Chhattisgarh Hockey: 0.