- Hockey Association of Odisha defeated Hockey Haryana 5-1 in the quarter-finals.
- Lelsan Minz scored a hat-trick to power Odisha into the last four.
- Odisha will face Hockey Punjab in the semi-finals on Thursday.
Coimbatore: The Hockey Association of Odisha produced a dominant performance to defeat Hockey Haryana 5-1 and book a place in the semi-finals of the 16th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship 2026 – Division ‘A’. The emphatic victory sets up a high-profile semi-final clash against Hockey Punjab, while Hockey Jharkhand will take on Hockey Madhya Pradesh in the other last-four encounter.
Lelsan Minz Stars as Odisha Outclass Haryana
Odisha took control of the contest early, with Mandeep Kerketta opening the scoring in the 3rd minute.
Lelsan Minz then stole the show by netting a superb hat-trick with goals in the:
- 15th minute
- 20th minute
- 46th minute
Captain Deepak Pradhan added Odisha’s fifth goal in the final minute of regulation time, while Prince scored the lone consolation goal for Hockey Haryana in the 41st minute.
Punjab, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh Also Advance
Hockey Punjab secured a convincing 5-2 victory over Hockey Karnataka to enter the semi-finals.
Punjab’s scorers included:
- Ajaypal Singh
- Jarman Singh
- Sunny
- Amandeep
- Gurwinder Singh
Kiran Reddy scored both goals for Karnataka.
The closest contest of the day saw Hockey Jharkhand defeat Uttar Pradesh Hockey in a 4-3 shootout after the teams finished level at 3-3 in regulation time. Goalkeeper Sahu Prince emerged as the hero with crucial saves during the shootout.
Earlier, Hockey Madhya Pradesh defeated Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu Hockey 7-3 in a high-scoring quarter-final. Subhan Abid, Rajveer Singh, and captain Ritendra Pratap Singh scored two goals each to guide Madhya Pradesh into the last four.
Semi-Final Fixtures
The semi-finals of the 16th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship 2026 – Division ‘A’ will be played on Thursday:
- Semi-Final 1: Hockey Association of Odisha vs Hockey Punjab
- Semi-Final 2: Hockey Jharkhand vs Hockey Madhya Pradesh
The winners will advance to the championship final as the race for the national junior men’s hockey title enters its decisive stage.
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