Day 3 of Hockey India 7th Senior National Hockey Championships 2017 (Men) ‘B’ Division continued with three Pool games played out during the day.
In the opener, Hockey Maharashtra beat Hockey Rajasthan 9-0 in Pool A. Goals from Akshay Jadhav (11’, 26’), Pratap Shinde (12’, 24’), Jatinder Singh (13’), Ajit Shinde (37’), Sanjay Toppo (45’), Aniket Gurav (59’) and Gaurav Nimbolkar (60’) gave them a comfortable victory.
In the second game of the day, Central Reserve Police For¬ce beat Delhi Hockey 3-1 in a highly engaging Pool B encounter. Jayanta Tirkey’s first quarter brace (7’, 15’) lifted Central Reserve Police Force to a lead, one they solidified further with a third goal from Ignacius Toppo (24’) to go into half time with a three goal cushion. In the third quarter Delhi Hockey came out stronger, and started putting their influence on the game. With Central Reserve Police Force forced into defence, Delhi Hockey scored their goal via captain Vijay Kumar Maurya in the 48th minute. Despite a host of chances, they couldn’t convert more, as Central Reserve Police Force held on for the victory and their second consecutive victory of the tournament.
In Pool C, Central Industrial Security Force and Hockey Coorg played out a feisty encounter filled with action. In a tough fought first quarter, Niraj Yadav’s 6th minute strike was the difference as Central Industrial Security Force took the lead into the break. In the fourth quarter, despite a spirited Hockey Coorg fight back, Central Industrial Security Force held strong in defence to take the three points.