Pune: The 16th Hockey India Junior Women National Championship 2026 witnessed another day of exciting action across Divisions ‘B’ and ‘C’, with Hockey Karnataka, Bihar, Mizoram, Assam, Gujarat and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu registering victories in their respective encounters in Pune on Saturday.
Hockey Karnataka produced the biggest win of the day in Division B, Pool B, defeating Hockey Uttarakhand 6-1, while Hockey Bihar blanked Goans Hockey 6-0 in the same pool.
In Division B, Pool A, Hockey Mizoram defeated Kerala Hockey 2-0, while Assam Hockey edged past Hockey Andhra Pradesh 2-1.
Hockey Karnataka were in complete control against Uttarakhand, with captain Manish Ponnamma CD leading the way with a hat-trick. She scored in the 19th, 42nd and 46th minutes.
Pearlin Ponnamma A.G. (23rd), Meher Kaur Mehta (24th) and Vyshnavi Arul (25th) also found the net for Karnataka. Hockey Uttarakhand’s only goal came from Upadhayay Kashish in the 29th minute.
Hockey Bihar secured a comfortable 6-0 victory over Goans Hockey. Sidhi Kumari opened the scoring in the 23rd minute before Khushi Kumari doubled the lead four minutes later.
Khushi completed her hat-trick with goals in the 37th and 43rd minutes, while Sidhi scored again in the 37th minute. Kumari Anjali added another in the 46th minute to complete the emphatic win.
Hockey Mizoram also registered a clean-sheet victory, beating Kerala Hockey 2-0. Loicy Laltanpuii gave Mizoram the lead in the 15th minute before Zothanmawii doubled the advantage in the 29th minute.
Assam Hockey came from behind to beat Hockey Andhra Pradesh 2-1. Andhra Pradesh took the lead through Rajeswari Vydadi Sai Dhana in the 58th minute, but Tanya Chaurasiya struck twice in the closing stages, scoring in the 48th and 60th minutes, to hand Assam the win.
In Division C, Hockey Gujarat defeated Le Puducherry Hockey 3-1 in Pool B. Dhruviba Parmar scored twice, in the second and 35th minutes, while Jadeja Bhavnaba added another in the 36th minute. R Kareeshma Dass scored Puducherry’s lone goal in the 27th minute.
Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu Hockey defeated Hockey Arunachal 2-0 in Division C, Pool A, with Gupta Shreyanshi and Supriya Chauhan scoring in the 45th and 48th minutes respectively.
Hockey Rajasthan and Hockey Jammu & Kashmir were also awarded 5-0 victories by forfeit over Tripura Olympic Association and Telangana Hockey, respectively.
The tournament will enter a major phase on Sunday, with Division A set to begin in Pune.
(IANS)
