Assam went down to Maharashtra in their Group E encounter of the Hockey India Sub-junior Women’s National Championship at Khuman Lampak Hockey Stadium in Imphal on Friday. In the last match of the day, which remained goalless for 29 minutes, Maharashtra earned a 3-1 win and grabbed the three points on offer.
In the other matches of the day, Bengal beat Jammu & Kashmir 2-1 in a hard-fought Pool A match, Chhattisgarh registered a comfortable 7-0 win over Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh beat Hockey Uttarakhand 3-0.
As for the last match of the day, it was Maharashtra captain Sukanya Dhaware who broke the deadlock when she scored at the very end of the second quarter in the 30th minute. Assam did not have to wait too long for the equalizer as Neeshu Vihan made it 1-1 three minutes into the third quarter.
However, Maharashtra got back in the lead once again when Sanjana Khetawat scored in the 40th to make it 2-1. As the match progressed, Assam failed to find the equalizer and it was Hetal Goswami who sounded the board in the 54th minute and helped Maharashtra earn a 3-1 win.
Earlier in the day, Barsha Mondal (28’) and Sumaiya Sultana (51’) scored a goal each as Bengal defeated Jammu & Kashmir in a closely fought encounter. For, Jammu & Kashmir captain Palvi Devi found the target in the 41st minute.
In the match between Chhattisgarh and Gujarat, Geeta Yadav (15’, 50’) and Aradhana Rajbhar (36’, 38’) scored two goals each while Sanjana Raikwar (10’), captain Raj Rani (54’) and Shalu Sonkar (59’) sounded the board once as Chhattisgarh earned an easy win on the third day of the tournament.
Meanwhile, Hirva Purohit (4’), Tahur Naaz (35’) and Gungun Kaur (39’) scored one goal each as Madhya Pradesh beat Hockey Uttarakhand easily.
On Saturday, Chandigarh will take on Arunachal in Group F in the opening encounter of the day. It will be followed by the match between Punjab and Tripura in Group G. The last two matches will see Bihar take on Karnataka and Mizoram face off against Telangana.
