Hockey Madhya Pradesh defeated Hockey Haryana 1-0 to win the 11th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2021 in Jhansi.
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Hockey Madhya Pradesh defeated Hockey Haryana 1-0 to win the 11th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2021 in Jhansi. Hockey Punjab went past Hockey Maharashtra 2-1 to finish third in the competition. Hockey Madhya Pradesh’s Kanchan Nidhi Kerketta (9′) found the back of the net early in the Final against Hockey Haryana, and thereafter the Hockey Madhya Pradesh side kept Hockey Haryana at bay throughout the game and walked off as winners of the tournament.
Speaking about their victory, Hockey Madhya Pradesh Coach Vandana Uikey said, “It feels really good to win the tournament, especially because we have won the Hockey India Senior Women National Championship for the first time. It was a very close match. The players played very well. We had more ball possession than the other team.”
Uikey further spoke about the aspects that impressed her the most about the Hockey Madhya Pradesh side in the Final, “The players played an outstanding game. The fitness level shown by the team in the Final was really good. That was an advantage for us. Our Goalkeeper Deepa Sharma played outstandingly as well. She saved a lot of goals during the match. This tournament was a good experience for the team as well.”
Earlier today, Hockey Punjab earned a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Hockey Maharashtra to finish third in the 11th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2021. Captain Reena Rani (44′) and Sarabdeep Kaur (50′) scored a goal each for the winning side, meanwhile Priya Dubey (18′) scored the only goal for Hockey Maharashtra.
Hockey Maharashtra Coach Chingshubam Sanggai Ibemhal sounded extremely pleased earlier following his side’s qualification for the semi-finals.
“It’s great to have qualified for the Semi-Finals. However, the Hockey Madhya Pradesh is a good team. We have played well in the tournament so far. We didn’t put up our best performance in the Quarter-Final against Hockey Karnataka so we are looking to improve our game in the Semi-Final. We will strategize according to Hockey Madhya Pradesh’s strengths and weaknesses,” he said.
Hockey Madhya Pradesh on the other hand booked a place in the semi-finals with a comprehensive 5-1 victory over Hockey Jharkhand in the quarter-finals.
Speaking about their semi-final match, Hockey Madhya Pradesh Coach Vandana Uikey said, “Our first target was to reach the Quarter-Finals of the tournament, the team performed very well in the Quarters, which was a high-scoring match as well. The players are high on confidence. We are expecting to win the Semi-Final and book a place in the Final. The team has played outstandingly in the tournament so far.”
Speaking about the team’s performance and the side’s targets ahead of their semi-final match, Hockey Haryana Coach Kuldeep Siwach said, “The team has performed well in the tournament so far. Hockey Haryana and Hockey Punjab have been playing well in the competition. We have worked on a few aspects of the team’s game in the lead-up to the Semi-Final and we hope that we can apply our learnings in the upcoming match. We are the defending champions, so we have to work hard to defend our title.”
