Coimbatore (TN): Teams from Odisha, Punjab, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh emerged victorious in four exciting quarterfinal encounters as the semifinal line-up of the 16th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship 2026 – Division ‘A’ was confirmed on Wednesday.
Hockey Punjab booked their place in the semi-finals with a convincing 5–2 victory over Hockey Karnataka in the third quarterfinal. Ajaypal Singh (22′), Jarman Singh (C) (24′), Sunny (32′), Amandeep (35′) and Gurwinder Singh (60′) found the net for Punjab, while Kiran Reddy scored both goals for Hockey Karnataka in the 21st and 28th minutes.
In quarterfinal 2, Hockey Association of Odisha registered an emphatic 5-1 win over Hockey Haryana. Lelsan Minz starred with a brilliant hat-trick (15′, 20′, 46′), while Mandeep Kerketta (3′) and captain Deepak Pradhan (60′) also got on the scoresheet. Prince scored the lone goal for Hockey Haryana in the 41st minute.
The closest contest of the day saw Hockey Jharkhand edge past Uttar Pradesh Hockey in a shootout after the teams were locked at 3-3 at the end of regulation time. Satyam Pandey (28′) and Triloki Venvanshi (33′, 50′) scored for Uttar Pradesh Hockey, while Patras Hassa (26′), Bhengra Gledshan (43′) and Nicolas Topno (60′) struck for Hockey Jharkhand.
In the shootout, Rohit Tirkey, Jolen Topno, Patras Hassa and Ankit Ekka converted their attempts, while goalkeeper Sahu Prince produced crucial saves to seal a 4–3 shootout victory for Jharkhand.
In the first quarterfinal, Hockey Madhya Pradesh defeated Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu Hockey 7–3 in a high-scoring encounter. Subhan Abid (23′, 43′), Rajveer Singh (19′, 23′) and captain Ritendra Pratap Singh (37′, 56′) each scored twice, while Aashir Aadil Khan added another in the 41st minute. Sumit Rajbhar (40′), Suraj (47′) and Moohamed Jaeed (52′) scored for Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu Hockey.
Upcoming fixtures:
Semifinal 1: Hockey Association of Odisha vs Hockey Punjab
Semifinal 2: Hockey Jharkhand vs Hockey Madhya Pradesh
The semifinals will be played on Thursday.
(IANS)
