Haryana’s junior women’s hockey team avenged last year’s final defeat by beating Jharkhand 2-1 in the final to win the 16th Hockey India Junior Women National Championship in Pune yesterday.
Haryana had lost to Jharkhand by the same scoreline in last year’s final at Kakinada.
Haryana coach Azad Singh Malik said the team had won the national title after a gap of three years. Haryana had previously won the championship in 2021 and 2022. In the past three editions, the team had finished runners-up once and third twice.
Haryana remained unbeaten throughout the tournament. The team opened with a 10-1 win over Bengal, followed by a 3-0 victory over Odisha. In the quarter-final, Haryana defeated Chandigarh 3-1 before thrashing Chhattisgarh 8-0 in the semi-final.
In the final, Jharkhand took the lead through Mundri Saroj in the 19th minute. Haryana equalised when Bhavya converted a penalty corner in the 23rd minute. Khushi then scored the winner in the 42nd minute to seal the title, Malik said.
The coach said Haryana had steadily emerged as a strong force at the national level and the current squad had proved its mettle in a tournament featuring several promising players.
The Haryana team comprised Ishika, Bhavya, Jasmine, Tamanna, Sakshi and Khushi from Sonepat; Deepika, Himanshi, Kirti, Aditi, Anjali, Diksha, Shashi Khasa, Durga and Vanshishika from Hisar; and Anjani and Sukhpreet Kaur from Kurukshetra.