The final match of the 8th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship 2018 (A Division) took place here today which saw Hockey Punjab being crowned as the Champions of the competition as they defeated Hockey Haryana 4-2. While, it was Hockey Gangpur-Odisha who secured the Bronze Medal as they defeated Hockey Odisha 6-1 in the match for the third place.
In the Final match of the competition, Hockey Punjab came from two goals down to defeat Hockey Haryana 4-2. It was Hockey Haryana who took a 2-0 lead after 37 minutes and looked like winning the match. However, Hockey Punjab scored four goals in the second half to secure the title, after having finished with the Bronze Medal last year. It was Gursahibjit Singh who scored a hat-trick of goals for Hockey Punjab in the 42nd, 57th and 65th minutes while Karajwinder Singh (70′) also found the back of the winner for the Champions. Hockey Haryana’s two goals were scored by Deepak (26′) and Mohit (37′).
In the Bronze Medal match, Hockey Gangpur-Odisha defeated Defending Champions Hockey Odisha 6-1 to secure a podium finish. The match saw Hockey Odisha take the lead in the 16th minute through Dibesh Jojo’s field goal. However, Hockey Gangpur-Odisha struck four goals before the half-time whistle to take a 4-1 lead into the break. Hockey Gangpur-Odisha made sure that they followed in the footsteps of their Women’s team as they scored twice in the second half to secure an emphatic 6-1 win. Goals for Hockey Gangpur-Odisha were scored by skipper Pratap Lakra (27′, 59′, 63′), Sanjay Xalxo (24′, 35′) and Sudeep Chirmako (32′).