Junior Men’s National Hockey Championship semi-finals: Chandigarh to face Haryana, Madhya Pradesh to face Odisha | Loktej Sports News

Rourkela, 20 June (Hindustan). Chandigarh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Hockey Association of Odisha have advanced to the semi-final stage of the 13th Hockey India Junior Men’s National Championship 2023. The semi-final stages will begin on Wednesday.

Chandigarh defeated Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in Pool B to enter the quarter-finals of the tournament, where they defeated Punjab 3–2 (1–1) in the penalty shootout to enter the semi-finals.

Chandigarh coach Gurminder Singh said, “I feel our team is very skilful and fit. There is exceptional coordination between all the players which has helped us beat every team that comes our way. We look forward to this rest day.” We will use it to analyze our opponent’s strengths and weaknesses to formulate a strategy that will give us the best chance of winning.”

Haryana team performed well in Pool C defeating Hockey Uttarakhand and Hockey Himachal. In the quarterfinals, they faced Hockey Jharkhand and won 3–2 (2–2) in the penalty shootout.

Team coach Bharat Singh said, “Our boys have fantastic team spirit. Their maturity and determination at this age is commendable, and it is because of these qualities that we have come this far. The game against Hockey Chandigarh will be tough , But I have faith in the team and I expect the team to do well in the semi-finals.”

Madhya Pradesh topped Pool A after defeating Uttar Pradesh and Kerala during the group stage of the tournament. Madhya Pradesh defeated Maharashtra 9-2 in the quarter-final match to enter the semi-finals.

Coach Mangal Ved told the team, “It has been a tough journey so far, especially since Uttar Pradesh Hockey was in our pool, but all credit goes to the boys who kept their composure and stuck to the principles that We taught and defeated the defending champions. But the goal is to reach the finals. We will try to create as much pressure as we can in the D of the opponents, play short passes and create two-on-ones on the wings and hopefully we will win.

Hockey Association of Odisha defeated Manipur, Jammu and Kashmir and Hockey Gujarat in Pool D. They then defeated Hockey Karnataka in the quarterfinals by a score of 4–2 to enter the semi-final stage of the tournament.

Coach Cariappa Bolepanda said, “The National Championships have been tough so far as I am working with a new group, but I enjoy working with them because these boys listen and do what we tell them. So it’s been a good journey so far. Hockey Madhya Pradesh is a good team; how we do against them depends on how we play our strengths, penalty corner conversions and how well we field Neutralize their threat with the goal.”

Hockey Chandigarh will face Hockey Haryana in the first semi-final and Hockey Madhya Pradesh will face Hockey Association of Odisha in the second semi-final. Both the matches will be played on Wednesday, 21st June 2023 at Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium, Rourkela, Odisha.