The Semi-Final fixtures in the 8th Hockey India Sub Junior (Women) National Championship 2018 (B Division) took place here today which saw Assam Hockey and Hockey Coorg register victories to progress to the Final match of the competition as they defeated Vidarbha Hockey Association and Hockey Uttarakhand respectively.
In the first Semi-Final, it was Assam Hockey who produced a convincing attacking display to snatch a 7-1 victory over Vidarbha Hockey Association. Assam Hockey started the match well as they scored the first goal in the 9th minute and went on to take a 5-0 lead at half-time. In the second half, Assam Hockey scored two more goals while Vidarbha Hockey Association could only score a consolation goal in the 60th minute through their skipper Himanshi Gawande. Goals for Assam Hockey were scored by Khushboo Prajapati (12', 31', 54'), Maxima Xalxo (9', 27') and Elina Tigga (22', 49').
The second Semi-Final was a well-matched encounter between Hockey Coorg and Hockey Uttarakhand as the two teams kept fighting till the end in order to progress to the Final. Both the teams scored a goal each in the first half as Hockey Coorg cancelled Hockey Uttarakhand's 1-0 lead to put the teams on the level at half-time. In the second half, Hockey Uttarakhand took the lead again in the 66th minute but that was also cancelled out by Hockey Coorg as they converted a Penalty Corner in the 70th minute to take the match into a Penalty Shootout. Hockey Uttarakhand's Swati scored a brace in the 27th and 66th minutes while MK Sujatha (31') and G Kavya (70') scored for Hockey Coorg. In the Penalty Shootout, it was Hockey Coorg who came out on top as they converted from their first three takes to win by a margin of 3-2, while Hockey Uttarakhand lost as they could not hold their nerve which saw them miss thrice in the Shootout, converting only two.Assam Hockey and Hockey Coorg will face-off in the Final match of the competition on 6th February 2018 at 1600hrs while Vidarbha Hockey Association will be up against Hockey Uttarakhand in the 3rd/4th classification match on 6th February 2018 at 1000hrs.