Jhansi: Hockey Association of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Hockey Jammu & Kashmir secured easy wins while Arunachal and Rajasthan prevailed over fighting opponents on an opening day marked by one-sided scorelines, late drama and a goal-fest in Division ‘B’ in the 16th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship 2026, which began in Jhansi on Saturday.
In a Pool A match, Odisha set the tone for the tournament with an 18-1 rout of Hockey Uttarakhand. Aryan Xess and Sudeep Chirmako each scored four, with Xess finding the net in the 3rd and 4th quarters. Akash Soreng, Ajay Ekka, Anmol Ekka and Deepak Minz each scored twice, while Rohit Kullu, Ritik Lakra and Prasant Barla also scored. Vishal Kumar scored Uttarakhand’s consolation goal in the 34th minute.
Also in the same pool, Chhattisgarh scored in every quarter except the first to secure an 8-0 thrashing of Assam, with Vishnu Yadav opening the account in the 4th minute. Sandeep Kumar (27′, 40′), Tarun Yadav (32′, 46′) and Sonu Nishad (57′, 60′) each scored twice, and Karan Kumar Sahu also scored. Assam failed to score.
In Pool B, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu Hockey took control early through Nagendra Kumar (5′, 36′) and Kushal Bopaiah (11′), and Sunil Yadav (31′) and Mohd Idris (48′) added to the lead. Hari Rama (26′) scored Goa’s only goal in the 5-1 win.
Arunachal scored through Jay Prakash Patel (20′), Premdayal Giri (33′), Ujjwal (35′) and Patcha Tharun Kumar (36′), with Abhinav Singh (55′) also on the scoresheet. Telangana’s goals came from Mohd Affan Khan (6′) and R Aiyappa (41′) as they went down 4-2.
In Division ‘C’, Andhra Pradesh scored steadily in their 8-0 rout of Gujarat in a Pool B match, with Hemanth Kumar Dodium Subramanyam scoring a hat-trick (26′, 39′, 49′). Nadiminti Akhil (43′, 46′), Metta Sai Kumar (15′), Lekkala Hitesh Rao (31′), Manchala Bhanuprakash Reddy (41′) and Shaik Mohammad Rafi (28′) also scored.
In another Pool B match, Hockey Rajasthan prevailed over Bihar (BSSA) 3-2. Rajasthan held off a spirited Bihar side in a close contest. Captain Manish Choudhary scored twice late on (52′, 58′), after Ankit Rawat (32′) and Anurag Suthar (48′) had scored. Jony Kumar (34′) and Md Sidik (54′) scored for Bihar.
In a Pool A match, Hockey Jammu & Kashmir fought off Hockey Himachal 6-3 in the highest-scoring contest in Division ‘C’ on the day. Gagandeep Singh scored a hat-trick (11′, 30′, 30′) for J&K, with captain Karanjit Singh (43′, 52′), Kirandeep Singh (51′) and Manpreet Singh (37′) also scoring. For Himachal, Piyush (4′, 46′), Raj (30′) and Hardeep Singh (54′) were on the scoresheet.
–IANS–
