Hockey Maharashtra lose to Madhya Pradesh in quarters

The Hockey Maharashtra junior team. Pic: Hockey Maharashtra

Hockey Maharashtra (HM), led by Mumbai boy Govind Nag, went down 2-9 to Hockey Madhya Pradesh (HMP) in the quarter-finals of the Hockey India Junior National Men's Championships in Rourkela, Odisha, recently.

Ali Ahmad (5th and 44th minute) and Zaheer Mohammad (16th and 42nd) netted a brace for HMP while Mohammad Zain Khan (15th), Mohit Karma (23rd), Mohammad Konain Dad (34th), Rahul Pal (47th) and Arman Khan (51st) scored a goal each to complete the tally. For the Maharashtra side, Jay Kale (49th) and Ajay Naidu (58th) scored once each, but it was too little, too late.

Last week, the Maharashtra boys gave a good account of themselves in the league stages of the 29-team tournament, winning all three of their matches and topping Pool 'H' with nine points. They first beat Telangana Hockey 5-1 and then got the better of Hockey Bengal 4-1 before routing Bihar 7-0.

For Hockey Maharashtra, Vinayak Hande top-scored in the tournament with six goals while Prathamesh Dhuri scored three. Raj Pawar, and Vishal Mandade scored two goals each while, Yashraj Patil, Rajesh Pawar and skipper Nag netted a goal each.