National Hockey: Odisha To Clash With Manipur In Semifinals

Chennai: Odisha will face Manipur in the semifinals of the 14th Hockey India Senior Men’s National Championship on Friday.

Odisha had to dig deep to overcome Karnataka in the quarterfinal clash at Chennai’s Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium. Down 0-2 after 11 minutes, Odisha levelled scores through goals from Mangal Lohar and Shilanand Lakra in the second quarter.

Karnataka took the lead again, but Pratap Lakra scored in the 50th minute to force a 3-3 stalemate in regulation time.

In the penalty shootout, Odisha prevailed 3-1 thanks to brilliant goalkeeping by Sahil Nayak, who conceded just one penalty stroke. Sudeep Chirmako, Matiyas Dang and Shilanand were on target for Odisha to steer them into the last four.

Like Odisha, Manipur had to fight hard to overcome Punjab in their last-eight clash. Tied 3-3 in regulation time, Manipur triumphed 4-3 in the shootout.

The other semifinal will see Haryana locking horns with Uttar Pradesh. Haryana outplayed Maharashtra 5-1 and UP got the better of hosts Tamil Nadu 3-1.