KOVILPATTI (FACE2NEWS)

Uttar Pradesh Hockey successfully defended their crown with a win over Hockey Chandigarh in the final of the 12th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship 2022 here on Sunday. Hockey Haryana claimed third place in the competition with a win against Hockey Association of Odisha in the third/fourth/place match.

In the final, Uttar Pradesh Hockey defeated Hockey Chandigarh 2 – 0 in a tightly contested affair. Sourabh Anand Khushwaha (4’) and Captain Sharda Nand Tiwari (33’) scored a goal early in each half for Uttar Pradesh Hockey to settle the contest.

Speaking after the final, Uttar Pradesh Hockey Coach Vikas Pal said, “We are extremely happy to defend our Title in this tournament. We added some new players into the team from the last time, and I am happy to see that the team galvanized together quite well. Overall, I am quite happy that the team played according to the standards we had set for ourselves regularly in training.”

In the 3rd/4th place playoff match earlier in the day, Hockey Haryana secured a 3 – 0 win against Hockey Association of Odisha. Shubham (10’), Toshant (44’) and Captain Vikas (58’) scored the goals for Hockey Haryana.