Rajasthan, Karnataka qualify for U-17 Junior National Hockey Championship semi-finals: Hockey Recap
Rajasthan and Karnataka qualified for the semi-finals of the Boys’ Under 17 Junior National Hockey Championship played at the MHA-Mahindra Stadium in Mumbai on June 06, 2011.
Rajasthan and Karnataka respectively edged past Bhopal, 4-3 and Chandigarh, 2-1 and confirmed their spots in the way to a title-claiming fight.
In the third quarter-final of the junior championship, Rajasthan displayed outstanding performance and scored four goals against three of their competitors.
Both the teams started the game quite sensibly and carried out consecutive strikes against either side. However, the players from Bhopal established their dominance in the 3rd minute of the match. Shahanawaz Khan managed to get into the defensive-circle
of Rajasthan and unleashed a powerful shot to get his team into the score-net.
The strikers from the Rajasthan though carried out many attacks against Bhopal in search of equaliser, but failed to do so. In the 20th minute of the first half, Shahanawaz Khan once again made a lengthy run towards the downfield and struck a
powerful hit at the Bhopal goal, increasing the lead up to two goals, 2-0.
After conceding a couple of goals, the attackers from Rajasthan cranked up their offence and scored first goal of the day. Sanjay Khan took the ball into the defensive circle of Bhopal and executed a well-organised shot that reduced the lead down to a single
goal, 2-1. After an end-to-end play in the remaining time, the first half of play was concluded with Bhopal hanging on to a single goal lead, 2-1.
Both the teams in the second half of play was fighting aggressively, as one wanted to level the score while other wanted to hold back the lead. In the 51st
minute of the game, Bhopal earned their 6th short-corner and tested once again Shahanawaz Khan, who didn’t miss the chance. He executed a well-coordinated shot that move absolutely in Rajasthan’s goal. However, the attackers from Rajasthan
revved them up in the game and levelled the score within short span of ten minutes. Mahendra Khokhar scored a couple of goals while his team-mate Charitra Singh Bishnoi scored off a short corner to take the game into their favour. As the time completed, Rajasthan
rode away the field by a single goal at 4-3.
In the last quarter-final, Karnataka beat Chandigarh by a solitary goal, 2-1. Anthony Rakesh and P. A. Somanna scored one goal each for Karnataka and made the victory possible in the knock-out match. From the other side, the solitary goal was scored from
Gurjant Singh but it could not save his team from a defeat.
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