Bengal, Air-India better chances of qualification

Bengal in pool G looked too good for the Patiala lads, their pressure tactics paving the way for a 9-0 victory. Gurdhyan Singh struck thrice for the winners. Samrjit Singh and Manoj Kujur had two each to their kitty and Iqbal Singh and Curil Ekka got one each.

Earlier, Bengal had beaten Vidharba 17-0. Tomorrow they take on Haryana and the winner will clash with Tamil Nadu.

In the Air-India8217;s win in Pool H, Prabhjot Singh netted eight goals. Deepak Thakur struck five times, while Vinay Kumar and M Fahad scored two each.

Uttar Pradesh have already beaten Sail 3-1 and Manipur 4-0 and have one match tomorrow against Andhra.

Andhra, in turn, have lost to Sailand Manipur.

In the other match, Bihar hammered Gujarat 6-0. Alexius Tirkey was instrumental in his team8217;s victory, converting four goals.

Tirkey struck in the third minute through a penalty stroke after Bhavin Mehta of Gujarat checked him inside the circle.

Johnson Topno converted the second off Tirkey. Tirkey then struck twice, and this was followed by Flugence Barla8217;s solo effort. Alexander Lakra scored in the 57th minute and Tirkey concluded the day converting a penalty corner in the 68th minute.

In another match, Haryana beat Vidharba 4-0. Jaipal Dhaiya, Rajiv Panchal, Dhiraj Kumar and Deepak were the scores for the winners.

In pool F, Manipur beat Sail 4-2. Sail began well, scoring off a penalty stroke 13th minute. But their joy was short lived as Birjit Singh 24th minute made it 1-1.

For Manipur, Y Benarjit Singh, N Priyo K Singh and Rirjit Singh two were the other goal scorers. Captain Nageshwar Topno of Sail scored in the 69th minute.