Hockey Bihar beats Vidharbha Hockey Association 3-0

The opening day of the 5th Junior National Hockey Championship 2015 (Women) 'B' Division showcased the finest of the game skills today

- Hockey Bihar beats Vidharbha Hockey Association 3-0
- Hockey Gangpur Odisha beats Assam Hockey 6-0
- Bengal Hockey Association drubs Hockey Gujrat 4-0
- Chandigarh Olympic Association trounced Hockey Madhya Pradesh 5-0

Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, 26 April 2015: The teams started their winning campaign on a positive note on the opening day of the 5th Junior National Hockey Championship 2015 (Women) 'B' Division played at Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh.

The first game drew in favour of Hockey Bihar as it beat Vidharbha Hockey Association 3-0. Another match was an exciting affair as Hockey Gangpur Odisha trounced Assam Hockey 6-0 and in the match between Bengal Hockey Association and Hockey Gujarat 4-0 saw the former registering a convincing win. Claiming another well deserved win Chandigarh Olympic Association outwits Hockey Madhya Pradesh 5-0.

Hockey Bihar on the first day of the all important Championship started their outing with a confident start and win against Vidharbha Hockey Association. Hockey Bihar looking for the lead struck in the 20th minute as Ritika Soren at the D received a pass right in front of the goal post which she did no mistake in finding the goal box. The team took the goal lead further in the 24th minute as Captain Aprjita Kumari converted a penalty corner and the half time scores stood at 2-0. The second half was almost a dry run as both teams looked to capitalize on their attack. It was in the 60th when Hockey Bihar added their third goal through a penalty corner and winning the match 3-0.

In a one sided match between Hockey Gangpur Odisha and Assam Hockey the former was dominant and registered a convincing win over the later. The team started their goal scoring spree in the 17th minute as Janhabi Pradhan converted through a penalty corner. Janhabi was seen into action again in the 20th minute as her field effort bore results again and taking her teams score to 2-0. Leading the game, Hockey Gangpur Odisha continued the same form in the second half as they struck their third goal in the 35th minute and this time it was Premita Bara who did the needful. 45th minute and the team bagged a penalty corner opportunity and which was stuck on the mark by Jiwan Kishori Toppo and taking the score to 4-0. Before the game ended Hockey Ganagpur Odisha added two more to the tally and took a comfortable win of 6-0.

The another clash it was a one sided game dominated by Bengal Hockey Association who pulled down Hockey Gujrat with a score 4-0. Bengal Hockey Association showcased a good start by converting the first penalty corner in the 10th minute of the game which was successfully done by Sathi Dolui. However the remaining first half of the game was a struggle for both the teams, especially Hockey Gujrat which could not win a goal despite continuous efforts. This led the first half of the game to end in favour of Bengal Hockey Association with a score 1-0. It was Sabana Khatoon who scored a brace for Bengal Hockey Association in the 40th and 43rd minute. Bengal Hockey Association continued to dominate the game as the fourth goal came from Priyanka Das who shot a field goal in the 55th minute driving the team to a win over Hockey Gujrat 4-0.

In another match of the day, Chandigarh Olympic Association defeated Hockey Madhya Pradesh 5-0. Chandigarh Olympic Association dominated the entire first half of the match as it scored 4 goals in the first half itself not allowing Hockey Madhya Pradesh to score even a single goal. Giving complete support to her team, Manju scored three beautiful field goals in the 7th, 28th and 42nd minute in favour of Chandigarh Olympic Association. This was well supported by Sujata who struck a goal in the 10th minute through a penalty corner conversion. Hockey Madhya Pradesh made desperate attempts to open their account but all their efforts went in vain. It was Shweta who scored another field goal in the 24th minute to help her team and Chandigarh Olympic Association won the match over Hockey Madhya Pradesh 5-0.

Results of the day-

Pool A Hockey Bihar 3 Ritika Soren (20 min-FG), Aprajita Kumari (24 min-PC), Shwet Nishar (60 min-PC) vs Vidharbha Hockey Association 0

Pool C Hockey Gangpur Odisha 6 Janhabi Pradhan (17 min-FG, 20 min-FG, 53 min-FG), Premita Bara (35 min-FG, 58 min-FG), Jiwan Kishori Pradhan (45 min-PC) vs Assam Hockey 0

Pool B Bengal Hockey Association 4 Sathi Dolui (10min- PC), Sabana Khatoon (40 min- FG, 43min- FG), Priyanka Das (55min- FG) vs Hockey Gujrat 0

Pool B Chandigarh Olympic Association 5 Manju (7in- FG, 28min- FG, 42min- FG), Sujata (10min- PC), Shweta (24min- FG) vs Hockey Madhya Pradesh 0

Schedule (Monday, 27th April 2015)