Sr women's hockey nationals: Haryana to meet Jharkhand in final

In the first semifinal match of Division 'A, ' Hockey Haryana defeated Hockey Mizoram 4-0. Sonam (41'), Monika (42'), Manisha (47'), and captain Rani (57') scored one goal each after Hockey Mizoram's strong defence for more than two-straight quarters to secure their birth for the last dance on Wednesday.

In the other semifinal match of Division 'A', both Hockey Maharashtra and Hockey Jharkhand showed splendid skills to restrain each other from scoring till the final whistle was blown and ended the game at 0-0.

The match then went to the shoot-out to find the tournament's other finalists and Hockey Jharkhand proved to be the better one with 3-2 (SO) in a close contest. Kajal Sadashiv Atpadkar and Preeti scored for Hockey Maharashtra where Rajni Kerketta, captain Albela Rani Toppo, and Shammy Bara scored for Hockey Jharkhand to seal the spot in the final against Hockey Haryana.

On Wednesday. Hockey Mizoram will play Hockey Maharashtra in the 3rd-4th placings match while Hockey Haryana clash with Hockey Jharkhand in the final.

Earlier, Hockey Mizoram defeated the Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu 6-0 in Division 'A' to secure their passage to the knockout stage of the tournament. Devika Sen (8', 27') scored a brace for Hockey Mizoram, whereas Dimple (1'), Lalthantluangi (2'), Deepika (26') and Antim (45') also scored one goal each to take the game away from their opponent. However, their best efforts came up short against Haryana, the former champions who have produced many top women hockey players in recent times.