Manipur, Jharkhand in focus in sub-junior hockey semis

JIND: High-scorers Manipur and Jharkhand will be in focus as the semi-finals of the 11th Hockey India Sub-Junior Men's National Championship are played on Wednesday here. In the first semi-final match, Manipur will face Haryana while Uttar Pradesh will clash with Jharkhand in the second encounter.

Jharkhand have been in sublime form. They have scored 26 goals so far and won their quarter-final clash against Chandigarh by a resounding 7-0 margin, and will start as favourites against Uttar Pradesh. Jharkhand coach Adam Horo believes that his team can continue to keep up their winning momentum. "I am really happy with the way the boys have applied themselves in the tournament so far. We are feeling confident of doing well in the Semi Final also. We worked hard on our short passing and finishing during the camp before the start of the championship and I'm glad that it has paid off and we hope to make further progress," he said. Uttar Pradesh had two of their pool games forfeited but registered a comfortable 3-0 win against Bihar in their quarter-final clash. Having reached the final in the previous edition as well, Uttar Pradesh now target going one step higher. Despite being short of match practice coming into the championship, Uttar Pradesh coach Vikas Pal is encouraged by his wards' performance in quarter-finals. Both semi-final matches will be played on Wednesday. The Manipur-Haryana starts at 9 am while the second semi-final game between Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand starts at 4 pm. IANS

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