BHOPAL: Even after appearing on the ground after two years’ gap, the junior team of MP Hockey maintained their domination on the ground. The team will play the semifinal of jr national academy national hockey championship against Roundglass Punjab Hockey Academy at Maj Dhyan ground on Tuesday.
Under the joint aegis of Hockey India and Sports and Youth Welfare Department, the championship is being organized on the newly constructed turf of Major Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium.
The first semi-final of this championship will be played between Raja Karan Hockey Academy and Namdhari XI on Tuesday, while the second semi-final will be played between MP Hockey Academy and Roundglass Punjab Hockey Academy. Sports minister Yashodhara Raje Scindia has sent her wishes to the Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy and other teams to perform well.
The way the MP Hockey Academy team has performed in the league matches has been truly amazing. Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy defeated Vaidipatti Raja Hockey Academy 10-0 in the first match of the league and Lakshmi Ammal Sports Academy 9-0 in the second match. In the third match, MP Hockey Academy defeated Tamil Nadu Hockey Academy by a huge margin of 9-1. In the quarterfinals, MP Hockey Academy defeated Naval Tata Hockey Academy, Jamshedpur by a margin of 5-1 to enter the semi-finals.
Himanshu Sanik and Shreyas Dhupe have performed brilliantly for the MP team so far and have scored goals in almost every match. Now, the team of MP is going to face another contender for the title, Roundglass Punjab. This team has reached the semi-finals by defeating SAI Academy Kolkata in a penalty shootout. Incidentally, Roundglass Punjab has been doing well so far. The semi-final match between these two teams is expected to be exciting. The teams of Raja Karan and Namdhari XI will face each other in the second semifinal. The Namdhari XI has performed flawlessly so far and has travelled to the semifinals breaking the strategy of the opposing teams.
