Jalandhar: Odisha squandered a comfortable lead in the final of the 15th Hockey India Junior Men’s National Championship to let Haryana snatch the coveted title here on Saturday.
Odisha led 2-0 till the fifth minute of the final quarter before succumbing to pressure as Haryana turned the final on its head in the last 10 minutes to win 3-2.
There was little to choose between the teams as the first quarter failed to produce a goal. Odisha then showed their class by converting successive penalty corners, through Deepak Pradhan (17’) and Pratap Toppo (19’).
Odisha kept Haryana at bay in the third quarter, and it seemed Odisha were on the brink of being crowned champions.
But then it all went downhill. Odisha conceded a penalty corner in the 50th minute, which was converted by Haryana’s Chirag. Nitin levelled scores at 2-2 in the very next minute, scoring a field goal.
In a nerve-jangling finish, Nitin dribbled past two Odisha defenders and found the mark moments from the final hooter to hand Haryana the winning goal.
In the 3rd place play-off match, Punjab pipped Uttar Pradesh 4-3 via penalty shootout after the teams were tied 3-3 in regulation time.
