Tamil Nadu notched up the biggest goal tally of the day, crushing Gujarat 25-1 with striker Kannan scoring five goals, Rupinder Pal Singh and Damu four each in Hockey India’s 2nd Senior National Hockey Championships here on Monday.
Holders Haryana hammered hapless Bengal 8-0 for their second win in Pool A. Didar Singh led with a goal in each half, converting a penalty stroke as early as the fourth minute and slamming home a hard drive in the 45th minute. Arjun Antil, Bharat Chikara, Naveen Antil, Gagandeep Singh and Karamjit Singh scored field goals before Sardar Singh converted a penalty-corner late in the game to complete Bengal’s misery.
Punjab slammed Chhattisgarh 12-0 for another big victory. Gurjinder Singh converted a penalty-corner in the second minute to put them ahead. Striker Aakashdeep Singh then took over the scoring act and sounded the board five times, including a hat-trick, in the second half. Sarvanjit Singh (3), Ravipal Singh (2) and Talwinder Singh completed the tally.
Air India beat Madhya Pradesh 4-1 in Pool E as Prabodh Tirkey converted two penalty corners while Samir Dad struck off a move in the centre and Vikas Pillay converted another short corner. Vikas Choudhary reduced the margin for the losers.
Pool A: Haryana 8 (Didar Singh 4, 45; Arjun Antil 34; Bharat Chikara 49, Naveen Antil 51, Gagandeep Singh 59, Karamjit Singh 65, Sardar Singh 70) bt Bengal 0; Bhopal 2 (Affan Yousuf 22, 63) bt Maharashtra 1 (Narad Bahadur 44). Pool C: Punjab 12 (Gurjinder Singh 2, Aakashdeep Singh 10, 41, 50, 52, 69; Ravipal Singh 11, 23; Sarvanjit Singh 17, 26, 62; Talwinder Singh 59) bt Chhattisgarh 0; Pool E: Air India 4 (Prabodh Tirkey 2, Samir Dad, Vikas Pillay) bt MP Hockey Academy 1 (Vikas Choudhary).