HI Junior Men Zonal Championship 2023: UP, TN, Jharkhand, Maharashtra register wins

New Delhi [India], March 26 : The action in the 1st Hockey India Junior Men Zonal Championships 2023 continued in the North, South, East and West Zones with Uttar Pradesh Hockey, Hockey Punjab, Hockey Karnataka, Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu, Le Puducherry Hockey, Hockey Jharkhand and Hockey Maharashtra registering victories in their respective Zones.
Uttar Pradesh Hockey defeated Hockey Haryana 3-1 in the first Semi-final of the ongoing 1st Hockey India Junior Men North Zone Championships 2023, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. Ajeet Yadav (2', 34') opened the scoring for Uttar Pradesh Hockey, but Hockey Haryana responded with a goal from Mahesh Saini (20'). Ajeet Yadav scored again in the 34th minute, and Shahrukh Ali (58') scored late in the game to seal the victory for Uttar Pradesh Hockey.
Hockey Punjab recorded a 4-1 win against Hockey Chandigarh in the second Semi-final of the day. Dilraj Singh (2'), Harmajit Singh (22'), Ujwal Singh (31'), and Gobind Patel (54') scored for Hockey Punjab while Damandeep Singh (51') scored a consolation goal for Hockey Chandigarh.
In the 1st Hockey India Junior Men South Zone Championships 2023 Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu, Hockey Karnataka continued their winning streak on Day 7 as they defeated Kerala Hockey 4-0. Hockey Karnataka Captain Pavan DR (26', 49', 53') led from the front, scoring a hat-trick to give his team a comfortable lead. Akhil Aiyappa BN (43') also contributed with one goal for his side.
In the second game, a goal fest saw Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu beat Hockey Andhra Pradesh by a 6-4 scoreline. The goal scorers for Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu were Team Captain Srinivasan M (8'), Hari TS (15', 48'), Inbaraj (20'), Ramanathan K (27'), and Anand Y (30') while Kotaru Teja (12', 31'), Team Captain Shaik Ismail (21'), and Shaik Irfan (37') scored for Hockey Andhra Pradesh.
The last match of the day saw Le Puducherry Hockey win by a 3-0 margin against Telangana Hockey. The goal scorers were V Vijaya Sundar (43'), Sivaraman Sasidharan V (45+'), and Joseph (46').
The first match of the day in the 1st Hockey India Junior Men East Zone Championship 2023 being held in Khunti (Ranchi), Jharkhand ended as a 2-2 draw between Hockey Bihar and Hockey Bengal. Aakash Yadav (2') and Danish (21') scored for Hockey Bihar while Aman Kumar Thakur (25') and Karan Shaw (57') were on the scoresheet for Hockey Bengal.
The second match saw Hockey Jharkhand beat Hockey Association of Odisha 3-1. Premdayal Giri (33') scored the lone goal for Hockey Association of Odisha while Deepak Soreng (34', 56') and Roshan Ekka (44') scored for Hockey Jharkhand to ensure their victory.
Hockey Maharashtra defeated Chhattisgarh Hockey 3-1 at the ongoing 1st Hockey India Junior Men West Zone Championship 2023 in Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh to secure third place. Chhattisgarh Hockey took the lead first through Harsh Sahu (18') but goals from Ravi Bharadia (29'), Captain Jay Kale (42') and Arjun Hargude (43') ensured that Hockey Maharashtra was triumphant.