KOVILPATTI: Arun Sahani scored a brace of goals as Uttar Pradesh Hockey maintained their stellar unbeaten record in the 11th Hockey India Junior Men's National Championship, claiming the title with a decisive 3-1 victory over Hockey Chandigarh in the final here on Saturday.
Tournament top scorer Sharda Nand Tiwari opened the scoring for Uttar Pradesh Hockey in the 15th minute with a trademark penalty corner before Arun Sahani (16', 34') stretched Uttar Pradesh Hockey's lead further with a brace. Raman pulled one goal back for Hockey Chandigarh in the 51st minute, but Uttar Pradesh held on to the lead to be crowned champions of the tournament.
In the 3rd/4th place playoff match, the Hockey Association of Odisha edged out Hockey Haryana 3-2 in a closely contested affair to clinch third place in the competition.
Hockey Association of Odisha took the lead in the match through Deepak Minz (27'), only to be pegged back by two goals from Rohit (34') and Deepak (36'), who put Hockey Haryana in the lead in the third quarter.
Hockey Association of Odisha answered back with a quickfire brace of their own at the start of the fourth quarter -- Sushant Toppo (47') and Sudeep Chirmako (49') scoring a goal apiece. Hockey Association of Odisha held on to the 3-2 lead to secure third place. IANS
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