Jr Men, Women Inter-Zone Hockey: SAI Bal, West win in Ranchi; East, North on top in Lucknow

Lucknow/Ranchi, Sep 2 (IANS) East Zone, SAI Bal, West Zone win in Women’s category matches on the second day of the 1st Hockey India Junior Men & Women Inter-Zone Championships 2024 in Ranchi. In the Men’s category, East Zone and North Zone claimed victories in matches played in Lucknow.
In the first women’s category match of the day in Ranchi, East Zone registered a narrow 1-0 victory against North Zone. With both teams struggling to find the back of the net till the last quarter, it was Roshni Aind (54’) who stepped up to score and seal the win for East Zone.
SAI Bal defeated Academy 1-0 in the second women’s match. Kumari Peetambari (48’) breached the net early in the fourth quarter to open the account for SAI Bal and ultimately, claim three points from the game.
West Zone beat South Zone 6-0 in the last women’s category match. The goalscorers for West Zone were Kajal (16’), Samiksha Yadav (41’), Dhaware Sukanya (45’), Sanika Chandrakant Mane (51’, 54’), and Patel Sneha (52’).
The first men’s category match of the day in Lucknow ended with East Zone beating South Zone 3-1. Ricky Tonjam (12’, 23’) and Abhishek Tigga (15’) scored to grant East Zone a commanding lead. Dodium Subramanyam Hemanth Kumar (31’) scored for South Zone from a penalty corner but they failed to threaten further.
North Zone defeated West Zone 6-2 in the last men’s category match of the day. Jobanpreet Singh (8’), Rajveer Singh (28’, 59’), Rohit Singh (34’), and Lovenoor Singh (38’, 53’) got on the scoresheet for North Zone. While Karan Kumar Sahu (39’) and captain Tushar Parmar (57’) scored for West Zone.
Notably, on Sunday, North Zone defeated SAI Bal 3-2 in their men’s category Pool A encounter. SAI Bal opened the account through captain Rahul (17’) but Sukhmanpreet Singh (42’) equalised for North Zone in the third quarter.
Kushal Bopaiah Cb (43’) immediately struck to restore SAI Bal’s lead but last-gasp goals from Khan Fahad (56’) and Singh Jobanpreet (60’) turned the match in North Zone’s favour.
–IANS
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