Chandigarh to face SAI in final

Hockey Chandigarh and Sports Authority of India (SAI) scored contrasting victories to set-up a title clash against each other in the 7th Hockey India Sub-junior men’s National Championship (Division A) here on Saturday.

While SAI edged past Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy (MPHA) 2-1 in their early morning semifinal encounter at the Hockey Stadium, favourites Hockey Chandigarh trounced Hockey Odisha 10-1 in the evening affair.

It was actually Odisha who did the early running and took the lead in the ninth minute through Ajay Kumar Ekka’s penalty corner conversion. Chandigarh didn’t have to wait long to equalise as Sukhman Singh scored in the 16th minute. Both teams then slugged it out for the remainder of the half but neither could take a step ahead.

Things then turned on its head soon after the interval as Chandigarh hounded the Odisha goalline, pumping in a stunning nine goals. Mandeep started the goal-fest with a fine penalty corner strike in the 38th before others joined in the festivities to complete the win.

Rimanshu was the hero for SAI as his brace helped secure a good come-from-behind win against MPHA. After a fruitless first half, Shailendra Singh put MPHA ahead in the 48th minute before SAI hit back through Rimanshu (50th, 66th).

The final will be played on Sunday at 4 pm.

Results (all semifinals): Hockey Chandigarh: 10 (Sukhman Singh 16th, 46th, Mandeep 38th, Sanjay 40th, Maninder Singh 42nd, 50th, Amandeep 47th, Sukhjeet Singh 59th, Sahibjeet Singh 63rd, Harpreet Singh 69th) bt Hockey Odisha: 1 (Ajay Kumar Ekka 9th); SAI: 2 (Rimanshu 50th, 66th) bt Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy: 1 (Shailendra Singh 48th).