Sub-Jr Hockey National C'ship: UP, Odisha progress to final

Uttar Pradesh and Odisha have booked their place in the finals of the 8th Hockey India Sub Junior Men National Championship 2018 (A Division) after beating Haryana and Gangpur-Odisha respectively here on Saturday.

In the first semi-final clash, it was Uttar Pradesh who defeated Haryana with an impressive score line of 6-1.

The first half saw Uttar Pradesh Hockey take a 1-0 lead in the 30th minute as Samarth Prajapati converted a penalty corner. The second half saw a similar story as Uttar Pradesh dominated the game and extend their lead to 6-1 as Haryana could only score once in the game through Tanuj Saroha in the 49th minute.

Goals for Uttar Pradesh Hockey were scored by Uttam Singh (46', 57'), Ajay Yadav (55', 70') while Samarth Prajapati also scored his second in the 37th minute to wrap up the win.

The second semi-final was played between Odisha and Gangpur-Odisha which saw both teams putting up a great defensive display as the match only saw one goal being scored.

It was a strong performance from Odisha as they scored through a penalty corner in only the sixth minute of the match when Laban Lugun found the back of the net. Odisha kept their defensive shape intact throughout the match and saw out a well fought 1-0 victory over Gangpur-Odisha, who produced many goal-scoring chances but could not breach Odisha's defence.

Uttar Pradesh will now lock horns with Odisha in the finals of the tournament while Haryana and Gangpur-Odisha will face off in the Bronze Medal match on Sunday.