Vidya takes Karnataka into semifinals

Shoot-outs were the order of the day as all the quarterfinals at the 12th Hockey India senior women’s National championship here on Saturday were closely-fought affairs requiring the tie-breaker to decide the winners. While Maharashtra and Jharkhand played out a goalless draw in regulation time in the first quarterfinal before Jharkhand advanced to the last four 5-4 in sudden death, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh also required a second round of shoot-out after being tied 0-0 before Haryana advanced 3-2. The first match was a largely defensive affair with neither team even making a half-attempt to score, content sitting in their halves and playing the ball around between the 23-yard lines. In contrast, the second quarterfinal saw both sides creating chances and playing a fast-paced game but unable to find the winning goal. Punjab and Karnataka ended 1-1 in the third quarterfinal of the day before K.S. Vidya converted both her attempts successfully in the shootout to take Karnataka into the semifinals 6-5 (5-4 in shoot-out). Odisha completed the semifinal line-up with a 2-0 win in the shootouts over defending champion Madhya Pradesh, which could not convert any of its first four attempts after the game was tied 1-1 at the end of 60 minutes. The results: Quarterfinals: Jharkhand 0 (SO 5 Betan Dungdung 2, Reshma Soreng 2, Nirali Kujur) bt Maharashtra 0 (SO 4 Akansha Singh 2, Ankita Sapate, Manashri Shedage); Haryana 0 (SO 3 Ekta Kaushik, Bharti Saroha, Priyanka) bt UP 0 (SO 2 Sonal Tiwari, Simran Singh); Karnataka 1 (Nisha-PC, SO 5 K.S. Vidya 2, B.N. Poojitha, M.D. Pooja, H.R. Anjali) bt Punjab 1 (Mahima, SO 4 Kirandeep Kaur, Navpreet Kaur, Navjot Kaur, Sarabdeep Kaur); Odisha 1 (Neha Lakra, SO 2 Neha Lakra, Rojita Kujur) bt MP 1 (Prashu Singh Parihar, SO 0).