2nd Hockey India 5-a-side Senior Men's National C'ship commences in Pune

After goals galore in the opening day of the Women's Championship, the second edition of the 5-a-side Senior Men's Hockey National Championship 2017 also commenced on Tuesday at the Shiv Chattrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi, Pune.

The men's championship also started with eight teams playing out their first match of the tournament which saw a total of 53 goals being scored in the exciting shorter format of hockey.

In the opening match of the men's championship, hosts Hockey Maharashtra beat Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu 5-0 in their Pool A encounter.

Hockey Maharashtra started the match well as they raced to a three-goal lead inside the first period and scored another two goals at the start of the second period to maintain their authority in the match.

Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu tried to score a consolation goal but could not be successful in their attempts as the game ended 5-0 in Hockey Maharashtra's favour. Goals for the hosts were scored by Vikram Yadav (11', 12'), Devinder Walmiki (6'), Tyron Pereira (7') and Aniket Gurav (8').

In the second match of the day, Hockey Karnataka beat Uttar Pradesh Hockey 12-6 in a high scoring Pool A encounter.

Hockey Karnataka were off to a quick, attacking start as they scored eight goals in the first 14 minutes of the match to swipe away all hopes of their opposition. Uttar Pradesh Hockey also came back to score six goals in the last 12 minutes but it was not effort as Hockey Karnataka won the match 12-6.

Goals for Hockey Karnataka were scored by G. N. Pruthviraj (6', 12', 27'), Pradhan Somanna (4', 12'), Somaiah K P (10', 20'), Mohammed Raheel Mouseen (28', 29'), Abharan Sudev B (13'), Ponnanna C A (13') and Veeranna Gowda S (14') while Sumit Kumar (21', 25', 26'), Ajay Yadav (22', 29') and Raj Kumar Pal (18') scored for Uttar Pradesh Hockey.

In the third match, Hockey Haryana beat Hockey Punjab 8-7 in a hard fought match.

The game saw goals evenly scored in all the three periods with Hockey Haryana leading by 2-1 at the end of the first period. However, goals started to come in the last two periods which saw Hockey Haryana clinch it by scoring in the 28th and 29th minutes.

Goals for Hockey Haryana were scored by Jagwant Singh (4', 21', 25', 28'), Jasbir Singh (6', 12', 14') and Sher Singh (29') as Jarmanpreet Singh (11', 12', 23'), Hardik Singh (14', 30'), Kunwardilraj Singh (7') and Sarabjit Singh (27') scored for Hockey Punjab.

The fourth match of the day saw Hockey Odisha beat Hockey Jharkhand 9-6 to register their first victory.

It was Hockey Jharkhand who were leading with a score-line of 6-5 after 24th minutes but the match turned on its head when Hockey Odisha scored four goals in three minutes towards the end of the match to win with a convincing score-line of 9-6.

Goals for Hockey Odisha were scored by Sanjay Xalxo (11', 14', 30'), Rakesh Tete (3', 30'), Nilam Sanjeep Xess (9', 27'), Teophil Kujur (20', 29') while Hockey Jharkhand's goal-scorers were Noyel Topno (4', 10', 18', 24'), Vijay Xess (17') and Mangra Bhengra (22').