Manipur to face Odisha, Haryana to meet UP in men's National Hockey Championship semis

Manipur will face Odisha, while Haryana will take on Uttar Pradesh in the semi-finals of the men's senior National Hockey Championship scheduled for November 15.

The four teams - Manipur, Haryana, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh advanced into the semi-finals of the championship held in Chennai, on November 13.

Manipur edged out Punjab 4-3 in the shootout after a 3-3 tie in the regulation time.

Cyril Lagun (14’, 36’, 51’) netted a hat-trick for Manipur, while Ravneet Singh (24’, 59’) and Maninder Singh (18’) found the back of the net for Punjab.

Goalkeeper Hemam Dhanaraj Singh pulled off two critical saves as Manipur edged out their rivals in the shootout.

Haryana came up with a 5-1 win over Maharashtra, thanks to a hat-trick from Rohit (53’, 59’, 60’), along with a goal each from Rajinder Singh (48’) and Pankaj (54’).

Uttar Pradesh defeated hosts Tamil Nadu 3-1, with Chandan Singh (3’), Rajkumar Pal (18’) and Lalit Kumar Upadhyay (34’) being the goal-scorers.

Odisha pipped Karnataka in the shootout after a 3-3 tie.

Pruthvi Raj GN (5’), Bharath Mahalingappa Kurtakoti (11’) and Vishwas G (26’) scored for Karnataka. Mangal Lohar (14’), Shilanand Lakra (20’) and Pratap Lakra (50’) netted for Odisha.

In the shootout, Odisha goalkeeper Sahil Kumar Nayak conceded only a goal while his teammates did a decent job to score, as they settled for a 3-1 win.