Bhubaneswar: Sports Minister Suryabanshi Suraj felicitated 15th Junior National Hockey Championship runners up Hockey Association of Odisha men’s team here at Kalinga Stadium on Monday.
Minister said “our young stars' performance was top notch. I congratulate them for this achievement and wish them to earn more fame for the state and the country through their hard work”.
In the final, Odisha suffered defeat from Hockey Haryana by 2-3 goals in Jalandhar on Saturday.Both the teams couldn't be separated initially as they exchanged possession but failed to find an opening goal. In the second quarter, Hockey Association of Odisha showcased brilliant skill by converting two successive penalty corners courtesy of Deepak Pradhan (17') and Pratap Toppo (19') to take a comfortable lead in the final. The scores remained the same in the third quarter, but Hockey Haryana turned the game on its head in the final quarter of the match.
Chirag (50') scored his side's first goal through a penalty corner and in the very next minute, his teammate Nitin (51', 60') scored a field goal to level the game. Moments later in the final minute of the match, Nitin skillfully dribbled past two defenders and fired a shot from distance to score the winning goal for Hockey Haryana and claim the championship.
