JOIN USA determined Karnataka played out of their skins to eke out a 3-2 win against Delhi and qualify for the quarterfinals of the 7th Hockey India Sub-junior National Championships here at the Hockey stadium on Tuesday.
Needing nothing less than a win to enter the last-8 stage, the Karnataka boys put up a good show and took the lead in the 30th minute. Subal Kerketta, continuing his fine run in the tournament, was on the mark as he sounded the board without much fuss.
But the lead was short lived with Delhi scoring in the 33rd minute after Amit converted a penalty stroke. They made it 2-1 in the next minute as Ankit Kumar found the back of the net.
Returning with a renewed vigour, Karnataka pressed high and bombarded the opponent’s goal. The hosts were finally rewarded in the 48th minute, Kerketta getting his second of the game. Later, Manjeet scored the winner in the 66th minute to send his team through.
Karnataka will take on Chandigarh in their quarterfinal tie on Thursday.
Results:
Pool B: Manipur: 2 (Ibungo Konjengbam 26th, Amarjit Waribam 55th) drew with Bihar: 2 (Vaibhav Mishra 42nd, Martin Tuti 66th); Uttar Pradesh: 10 (Sahabaz Khan 16th, 69th, Uttam Singh 22nd, 47th, 70th, Saurabh Anand 31st, Ajay Yadav 33rd, Akhtar Ali 35th, 41st, Samarth Prajapati 51st) bt Tamil Nadu: 0.
Pool C: Chandigarh: 12 (Sanjay 11th, 28th, 29th, 43rd, 56th, Harpreet Singh 17th, Hashim 20th, Sahibjeet Singh 33rd, Arshdeep Singh 54th, 69th, Amandeep 62nd, Maninder Singh 63rd) bt Bhopal: 2 (Sameer Ahmed 19th, 37th); Patiala: 4 (Manpreet Singh 4th, 57th, Bablu Singh 58th, Rohit Rana 61st) bt Maharashtra: 1 (Aamid Khan Pathan 10th).
Pool D: Jharkhand: 5 (Ranjan Toppo 7th, Anurud Bhengra 42nd, 45th, Pawan Kerketta 43rd, Joseph Kongari 59th) bt Chhattisgarh: 0; Karnataka: 3 (Subal Kerketta 30th, 48th, Manjeet 66th) bt Delhi: 2 (Amit 33rd, Ankit Kumar 34th).
Quarters line-up (All matches on Thursday): SAI vs Haryana (6.00 am); Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy vs Punjab (8.00 am); Uttar Pradesh vs Odisha (10.00 am); Chandigarh vs Karnataka (4.00 pm).