Kerala hopes dashed

It was they who netted the first goal when Santa Singh sent in a crisp left-footer. Kerala8217;s jubilation knew no bounds when they restored parity through Jose minutes before the breather.

On resumption, however, Kerala played a wait and watch game and paid the penalty. NER made it 2-1 through Boby and thereafter guarded their citadel well not to let Kerala equalise again.

In between there were several good tackles by Naveen Rai of NER who, despite injury, made inroads into the rival territory often putting Kerala defence in disarray.

In other matches, Punjab defeated Gujarat 6-3, Maharashtra downed Madhya Pradesh 3-0, Uttar Pradesh beat Anahdra Pradesh 1-0 in the morning session. In the evening, West Bengal lost to Bihar 0-1, Orissa downed Karnataka 2-0, Delhi drew with Rajasthan 1-1 and Tamil Nadu drubbed Jammu and Kashmir 6-0.

In volleyball matches in the girls section played at IG Stadium, Punjab, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and AP entered the semi-finals.

Punjab defeated Gujarat 15-1, 15-0, Kerala downed Delhi 15-6, 15-8, Karnataka beat West Bengal 15-2, 15-2, MP defeated Jamp;K 15-13, 15-9 in the morning while Andhra Pradesh rounted Orissa 15-3, 15-4, Maharashtra downed Tamil Nadu 15-4, 15-1, NER lost to Bihar 1-15, 0-15 and UP overcame a stiff Rajasthan 15-9, 15-10.