Gurmail’s brace guides Hockey Patiala into final

The semi-final match between Hockey Patiala and Andhra Hockey in progress at Hockey Stadium, Kollam, on Friday. Express

A brace by Gurmail Kaur propelled Hockey Patiala to score a 3-1 win over Andhra Hockey Association and enter the final of the Ninth Hockey India Junior National Hockey Championship (Women) B Division being played at Hockey Stadium, Kollam, Kerala on Friday.

The semi-final match saw Hockey Patiala dominating the proceedings in the first quarter before Gurmail Kaur scored the opening goal of the match in the 29th minute of the match. Eight minutes later, Maheshwari Balagonda netted the equaliser for Andhra Hockey Association. The third quarter saw Hockey Patiala forwards stepping up the tempo and Suman Kumari scored the second goal for the team in the 40th minute of the match. Gurmail Kaur scored her second goal of the match in the 56th minute to complete the 3-1 win for Hockey Patiala.

In the first semi-final encounter of the day, Hockey Bhopal scored a 6-1 win over Assam Hockey to book their berth in the final. Shaheen Khan scored a brace for the winning team while Lanchenbi Khundrakpam, Neha, Poonam Pal and Pooja Nagle scored one goal each for the winning team. For Assam Hockey, Milka Surin scored the solitary goal. Hockey Patiala will face Hockey Bhopal in the final on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Hockey Chandigarh faced a 3-6 defeat against Hockey Haryana in a match of the Ninth Hockey India Junior National Hockey Championship (Women) A Division. Deepika was the star of the day for Hockey Haryana as she scored a hat-trick while Amandeep Kaur, Chetna and Manjeeta scored one goal each.