Action on Day 5 of the 13th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship 2023 saw Hockey Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh Hockey register wins in their respective pool matches at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela.
In the first match of the day, Hockey Madhya Pradesh beat Kerala Hockey 14-0 in Pool A. Mohammad Zaid Khan (3', 39', 56'), Ali Ahmad (6', 24'), Mohd Konain Dad (8', 18', 43',60'), Captain Ankit Pal (15'), Md Kareem Mansuri (29'), Shreyas Dupe (30', 41'), and Kashif Khan (57') featured on the scoresheet for Hockey Madhya Pradesh.
In Pool B, Chhattisgarh Hockey beat Hockey Andhra Pradesh 13-3 in the second match of the day. The goalscorers for Chhattisgarh Hockey were Karan Lakra (1', 17', 21', 37'), Arjun Yadav (7'), Vishnu Yadav (26', 46', 57'), Captain Tarun Yadav (38'), Sandeep Kumar (42', 45', 58'), and Sonu Nishad (47'). Meanwhile, Kavuru Pardha Sai (18'), Nadiminti Akhil Venkat (36'), and Giduturi Sai (48') scored for Hockey Andhra Pradesh.
Later today, Hockey Uttarakhand will face Hockey Himachal in Pool C, Hockey Association of Odisha will take on Hockey Jammu & Kashmir, followed by a contest between Manipur Hockey and Hockey Gujarat in Pool D, and Hockey Karnataka and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu Hockey match in Pool E.
Also on Thursday, Hockey Punjab defeated Assam Hockey 16-0 in Pool G. Arshdeep Singh (6', 35', 53') opened the account for Hockey Punjab followed by goals from Rajinder Singh (16', 45'), Dilraj Singh (18', 22', 44'), Captain Jaswinder Singh (21'), Sanjay Kumar (21', 54'), Rajat Sharma (25'), Sukhwinder Singh (29'), Ravneet Singh (31'), Arshdeep Singh (43'), and Gurpreet Singh (52') to end the game in their favour.
In the other match on Thursday, Delhi Hockey defeated Hockey Mizoram by a comprehensive 26-1 scoreline. The goal scorers for Delhi Hockey were Pankaj (7', 24', 41', 55), Nitesh (12', 26', 30', 39', 53', 54', 57'), Nitin (17'), Vikas Upadhyay (18', 25', 37'), Aman Sharma (29', 48', 51', 52'), Yogember Rawat (23', 34', 37', 57'), Captain Naveen Bidhuri (35'), Pardeep (56', 59'). Lalramhlua (59') scored a consolation goal for Hockey Mizoram towards the end of the game.
Another match on Thursday saw Hockey Bihar beat Telangana Hockey by 4-1 in Pool H. Hockey Bihar drew first blood through Danish's (2') early goal, followed up by goals from Ashutosh Bharti's (10'), Bhavuk (25'), and Sachin Dungdung (27'). Meanwhile, Peddiniti Neeraj Kumar (53') scored the only goal for Telangana Hockey
In the last match, Hockey Maharashtra defeated Hockey Bengal 4-1 in Pool H. Hockey Maharashtra took the lead after goals from Vinayak Santosh Hande (25'), Vishal Shridhar Mandade (28'), Prathamesh Dhuri (53'), and Captain Govind nag (59'). Santanu Naskar (39') converted a penalty stroke for Hockey Bengal but failed to change the outcome of the game.