Kerala, 05 February 2015: The 35th National Games saw
four remarkable and breathtaking games of hockey being played at the New Hockey
Stadium, Kollam (Kerala). Full of enthusiasm and zeal and bringing their finest
game approaches into play, the teams from eight different states clashed with
each other. Odisha defeated Karnataka by 5-1, Haryana trounced Kerala 5-1,
Punjab won over Maharashtra by 2-0 and
Jharkhand women beat Uttar Pradesh 2-1.
In the first match of the day, Odisha women went on with
full fervour to register their second win in the ongoing Games, routing
Karnataka women by a huge score of 5-1. With the first goal coming in as early
as in the fifth minute into the game, it was Ambika Toppo of Odisha who
converted a penalty corner into a perfect goal, giving her side an early lead
of 1-0. Jeera Ekka scored the second goal for Odisha in the 17thminute, again
through penalty corner conversion. The Women from Karnataka made their best
endeavours to breach the strong defence of the opponents and reach the nets but
to no avail. Continuing her scoring spree from last match played, Nil Projita
Majhi from Odisha efficiently put the ball in the mesh and soared up the score
to 3-0 before Ambika Toppo struck back again in the 27th minute and raised
the score further to 4-0. The players from both the teams put in all their
efforts to create as many scoring opportunities as possible and Birajini Ekka
of Odisha was finally successful in finding the gap and scoring another goal
for her team. While the Karnataka eves made their best attempts to post a goal,
Niha was the lone scorer from the team who managed a field goal in the 52nd minute.
At the blow of the final whistle, the scores stood at 5-1, declaring a
well deserved win for Odisha eves.
The second game played in the day saw Haryana women
registering a thumping win of 5-1 over home team Kerala. With a sturdy defence
line-up in the match, the visiting team had gained control of the game from the
very beginning. Opening the scoring account for her team, Nikky of Haryana
scored the first goal of the game through a penalty corner conversion in the 30th minute,
closely followed by another goal in the very next minute which was scored by
Monika Dahiya as a penalty stroke. The onset of second half saw some really
radiant and fine stick-work as the young and talented Monika scored another
goal in the 42nd minute when she efficiently converted a penalty corner
awarded to her team. Devika Sen and Jyoti scored the following two goals, both
being field goals, for Haryana in the 48th and 52ndminute. Saumya M of
Kerala scored the only goal for home team in the concluding minutes as the
final scoreboard showed a score of 5-1 pronouncing the triumph of Haryana eves
over Kerala women.
Continuing their winning streak, Punjab women beat Maharashtra 2-0 to win their second consecutive match in
the ongoing tournament. The game saw a neck and neck clash between the two
teams, playing with their finest line-up and strategies, to win over the other
side. After a long period of efforts, Manmeeth Kaur of Punjab scored the
opening goal of the game in the 27thminute when Punjab
was awarded a penalty corner as she faultlessly used her stick to send the ball
in the nets. In the closing minute of the first half, Gurjit Kaur scored
a lovely field goal to ascend the score to 2-0. The entire second half of the
match was completely dry as women from both the sides made desperate attempts
to violate each other’s defence and find the nets.
Turning the tables in their favour, Jharkhand eves recorded
their first win in the National Games as they defeated their opponent Uttar
Pradesh 2-1 in the last game of the day. Converting a penalty corner into the
first goal of the game, Etwari of Jharkhand opened the scoring account in the
13th minute. It was closely followed by a field goal from Pratibha
Chaudhri of Uttar Pradesh who scored in the 18th minute to level the
scores 1-1. With the equalizer, it became a lot more exciting to see who will
finally take the lead in the game and eventually emerge as the victor. The
second half saw several attempts from both the sides to score until it was
Punam Madhuri who converted a penalty corner into a goal in the 40th minute,
giving Jharkhand a lead of 2-1 which went on till the last minute as Jharkhand
registered a comfortable win over Uttar Pradesh women.
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