PANAJI
Goans Hockey registered their first win of the tournament as they thumped Punducherry Hockey 6-0 in the 12th Hockey India sub-junior men’s national championship played at hockey astro turf, at Peddem Sports Complex, Mapusa on Saturday.
The Goan side came into the fixture after they shared spoils with Delhi in their first game of the tournament. Goa vs Puducherry was a sheer display of aggressive dominance from the local youngsters. Goan players Dipak Nawik and Pankaj Naik were the scorers.
Puducherry having a weak defensive display throughout the quarter couldn’t stop the Goan side from attacking and counter attacking like a storm. The second quarter mostly belonged to Goa as they displayed great skills, offence, and a very aggressive gameplay, tearing apart the Puducherry defence.
The 3rd quarter again favoured Goa as they were able to score another goal and had some great opportunities on the penalties. Puducherry seemed to lose control of the ball most of the time and couldn’t even get it to the other side. The 4th quarter totally belonged to Goa as two more goals were scored by Deepak Nawik giving Goa a sure-shot victory and a beautiful game of dominance, offensive gameplay, and tactical playmaking.
In another match earlier in the day, Hockey Bihar defeated Hockey Arunachal 9-2. The Bihar side had a strong start as they scored a hat-trick in the first quarter having incredible ball possession and attacking gameplay; Arunachal were a bit slow with their game having a good offence but couldn’t defend well.
The second quarter again saw Bihar scoring another hat-trick and showing good display of skills and focusing mostly on their attacks with a vast number of penalties. In the third quarter, Arunachal managed to score 2 goals showing aggressive attacks but Bihar did counter with another goal at the end of the quarter. Victory was set for Bihar in the fourth quarter as Ravikant Kumar scored a hat-trick.
The second match for the day saw Jammu Kashmir ease past Telangana 4-0. A highly anticipated north Indian clash between Punjab and Delhi saw the Punjabis decimate their north Indian counterparts with eight unanswered goals. Meanwhile, Chandigarh thrashed Maharashtra 11-3 in the day's other match.
