CONRAD DIAS
Ranchi, May 12: Jharkhand defeated Chandigarh via penalty shoot-out (4-2) to enter the semis of the 12th Hockey India Sub Junior Men National Championship 2022 being held in Goa.
Jharkhand’s goalie Rakesh Bara played an important role as he saved two goals from the opponents during the penalty shootout and helped his team cruise into the semis.
Jharkhand’s Rohit Tirkey, Aseem Ekka, Amrit Tirkey and Abhishek Tigga scored four goals during the shootout. Earlier, both the teams ended up with three goals each by the end of the final half.
Vishal Lakra from Jharkhand scored the first goal for his team during the second minute of the game. Jharkhand managed to take the lead by the end of the second quarter.
However, Chandigarh scored the equalizer during the third quarter via a penalty corner. They went on to take the lead by scoring another penalty corner. Jharkhand levelled the score in the 48 minutes with the help of Abhishek Tigga.
The aggressive gameplay from both teams ended the final quarter at 3-3 which led to a penalty shootout.
The President of Hockey Jharkhand, Bholanath Singh along with other officials congratulated the team and wished them the best for the semi-final.
