Jr Nat Hockey: Mumbai too strong for MP

Mumbai proved far too strong for Madhya Pradesh, winning 12-0, in a boys' Pool 'B' league match of the Junior (under-20) National Hockey Championship for boys and girls, at the Major Dhyanchand ground, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nehrunagar on Tuesday evening.

The tournament is being organised by the Pune District Hockey Association, under the auspices of the Indian Hockey Federation.

Penalty-corner specialist Narad Bahadur converted three penalty-corners, while Ganendrajit Ningombam also scored thrice, all field goals. Abung Singh got a brace, while Mohammed Irfan, Roshan Keisham, Vikram Yadav and Sumit Topno chipped in with a goal each.

Mumbai started off in rousing fashion as Bahadur, with a firm drag flick, opened the scoring in the third minute before Ningombam double the lead two minutes later. But, thereafter, Mumbai slackened the pace and regained their touch only 25 minutes later, scoring thrice in the final 10 minutes of the first-half for a 5-0 cushion. However, after the change of ends, Mumbai scored at regular intervals to complete MP's demolition.

Earlier, in the morning, Baroda made a dream debut, producing a solid attacking display to tame Tripura 10-2 in the opening Pool 'H' league match.

In the day's first fixture, fancied Indian Oil Corporation outplayed Maharashtra 11-0 in Pool 'D'.

In a boys' Pool 'H' match, Bhopal blanked Bengal 6-0. Azam Baig played a stellar role, slamming home three goals for Bhopal, who enjoyed a 2-0 cushion at the break. After the change of ends they fired in four more goals to seal Bengal's misery. Aifazuddin, Shaikh Hussien and Md. Sahir were the other Bhopal players to get their names on the score sheet.

In a Pool 'B' encounter, Andhra Pradesh blanked Vidarbha 5-0. S Ramesh (2), V Shankar, T. Dhana Abhishek and P Rasool Khan were on target for the winners.

Results:

Boys:

Pool B: Andhra Pradesh 5 (S Ramesh 2, V Shankar, T. Dhana Abhishek, P Rasool Khan) bt Vidarbha.

Pool D: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) 11 (Affan 4, Naeem 2, Nitin, Gagandeep, Sanklap, Nijanthan) bt Maharashtra 0.

Pool G: Bihar 4 (Satish 2, Deepak 2) bt Uttarkhand (Blue) 1 (Vikas Pant).

Pool H: Baroda 10 (Vijay Thapa 5, including a hat-trick, Vishal Mhatre, Harsh Lahute, Naresh Tomar, Saket Pathak, Shrey Vaze) bt Tripura 2 (Laxman Nama, Sahidur Islam).