Indian sports wrap, December 3: Madhya Pradesh shocks defending champion Haryana in quarters of Hockey India Sub-Junior Women’s Nationals

HOCKEY

Madhya Pradesh stuns defending champion Haryana in semis of Hockey India Sub-junior national women’s c’ship

Madhya Pradesh girls shocked defending champions Haryana 3-2 in a keenly contested quarterfinal, while last year’s runners-up Jharkhand stormed into the semifinals of the 14th Hockey India Sub-junior national women’s championship at RRC Ground in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

Haryana opened the scoring as Diksha struck in the 13th minute of the game. However, Madhya Pradesh girls pulled things back as Sallu Pukhrambam struck in the 34th minute to draw parity.

Sixteen minutes later, Rubi Rathore made it 2-1 for Madhya Pradesh by converting a penalty corner.  But the Haryana girls levelled the scores in the 58th minute through the stick of Durga.

However, the Madhya Pradesh girls, who have scored a will right through the tournament, were in no mood to give it as they took just a minute to score the winning goal. Rubi converted another penalty corner to dump the champions out of the tournament.

Leoni Hemrom was the architect of the resounding Jharkhand win as she sounded the boards five times. After being kept on the leash for the first two-quarters of the game, the Jharkhand girls went on a rampage in the final two quarters as they posted a 12-0 victory.

The Maharashtra girls were able to hold their own in the first two quarters as they kept the Jharkhand strikers at bay for the most part of the game before half-time. Leoni struck in the opening minute of the game and added another in the 16th minute as Jharkhand went into the break 2-0.

However, things took a dramatic turn thereafter, as Jharkhand scored four and six goals in the next two quarters to complete the rout. Shruti Kumari and Thekia Horo scored a brace each.

Uttar Pradesh, who had finished fourth last year, suffered a 0-1 loss to Mizoram. Skipper Laltlanchhungi sent Mizoram into the last four with a penalty stroke conversion in the 49th minute of the game.

Odisha, who were placed third in the last edition of the tournament, sailed into the semifinals with a comfortable 3-0 win over Delhi.  Anjana Xaxa, Lugun Shibani and Sanjna Kujur scored a goal apiece as the Odisha girls brooked no challenge from the Delhi teenagers.

In the semifinals to be played on Thursday, Madhya Pradesh will take on Mizoram, while Jharkhand will clash against Odisha.

-V V Subramanyam

India Navy beats PSPB in Nehru tournament

Pawan Rajbhar scored two goals to guide Indian Navy to a 4-3 victory over Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) in a quarterfinal league match of the SNBP 60th Nehru hockey tournament at the Shivaji Stadium in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The Navy team led 4-1 after three quarters before the Petroleum team struck twice in the last quarter to make it a lively contest.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

ATHLETICS

Benjamin, Manoop and Akhila rewrite records

Idukki’s Benjamin Babu, a distance runner who developed a taste for the 3000m steeple chase three years ago, broke the event’s meet record in the 42nd Mahatma Gandhi University athletics championship at the Municipal Stadium in Pala on Tuesday.

Benjamin, from the hilly Pushpakandam near the Tamil Nadu border and representing Changanassery’s St. Berchmans College, bettered his personal best while taking the gold, his second here after his 5000m victory on Monday.

“I was sure I’d break the record,” said Benjamin who was virtually all on his own after the opening lap and won by a big margin.

Meanwhile Mar Athanasius V.M. Abhirami, who had been close to 6m three years ago, took the women’s long jump title with 5.77m. Janice Treesa Reji, the State junior champion with 5.85m in October but recovering from a foot injury now, could only finish fourth with 5.46m.

St. Dominic’s M. Manoop, who had won the quartermile on Monday, rewrote the 400m hurdles record for his second gold while Alphonsa’s Akhila Raju, who trains at Kasargod’s KC Throws Academy, broke the 16-year-old meet women’s discus throw record by more than six metres.

And Maharaja’s V.S. Bhavika, the championship’s fastest woman, finished with a double taking the 200m title.

St. Berchmans College won the men’s team title after some 20 years, beating traditional powerhouse Mar Athanasius, while Alphonsa regained the women’s title.

– Stan Rayan

BASKETBALL

TN boys and girls in last four

Tamil Nadu relied on scorers Aakash L. and Priyadarshan A.R. to overcome a strong challenge from Uttar Pradesh 66-55 in the quarterfinals and book a berth in the boys’ semifinals of the National youth basketball championships at the Sabuj Sathi Indoor Stadium, Howrah, on Tuesday.

Tamil Nadu will face defending champion Rajasthan, which beat Punjab 76-67.

Title holders Tamil Nadu girls also made it to the last-four by getting past Gujarat 81-55 in the quarterfinals and setting up a clash with Kerala, which got the better of Rajasthan 74-38 in another last-eight contest.

– Team Sportstar

HANDBALL

India starts Asian championship with win

Indian warmed up for the tougher challenges ahead with a 31-28 victory over Hong Kong in a group-B league match of the 20th Asian women’s handball championship at the KD Jadhav arena of the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here on Tuesday.

India led 16-10 at half time, but Hong Kong fought back remarkably well to bridge the gap to 19-20. However, India was able to gain momentum and stay ahead with spirited play, especially by the player of the match, Bhawna.

The Hong Kong team tried to enhance the attack by replacing its goalkeeper whenever the ball was on the attack, but Indian team capitalised on the situation with some fine goals from a distance. It was hard for the Hong Kong goalkeeper to run and defend the goal from the centre line.

The Koreans demonstrated as to why they are such a top quality team in the world with a mercurial 47-5 victory over Singapore in the other group.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

TENNIS

Shrivalli loses first round

Shrivalli Bhamidipaty was beaten 6-1, 6-3 by Amandine Hesse of France in the first round of the USD 100,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Dubai on Tuesday.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

Tennis Premier League: Hyderabad Strikers beat Bengal Warriors to top table

Hyderabad Strikers beat Bengal Warriors 58-42 to reach the top of the league table on the opening day of the sixth edition of the Tennis Premier League (TPL) at the Cricket Club of India (CCI) courts on Tuesday.

Harriet Dart gave a flying start for the Hyderabad team by beating Kamilla Rakhimova 18-7 in the 25-format match. Benjamin Lock stretched the lead by beating Niki Poonacha 16-9. Sriram Balaji and Niki Poonacha alone were able to pull one back for the Bengal team by beating Benjamin and Vishnu Vardhan 14-11 in the fourth rubber, after Hyderabad had won the third match, the mixed doubles.

Rajasthan Rangers was well served by Rohan Bopanna and recorded a 57-43 victory over Gujarat Panthers which had Sumit Nagal.

Mumbai Eagles beat Punjab Patriots 56-45, and Chennai Smashers beat the defending champion Bengaluru SG Pipers 54-46 to be in the third and fourth spots.

The top four teams after five matches each in the league phase will qualify for the semifinals.

– Kamesh Srinivasan