Chandigarh women qualify for semis

Chandigarh became the first team to qualify for the semifinals from pool 'B' by virtue of their solitary goal victory over Maharashtra, while reigning champions Haryana virtually booked a knock out berth registering their second straight victory defeating Jharkhand 2-0 in the women's hockey competition in the 32nd National Games here today.

Earlier in the day, Orissa and Delhi kept some hopes alive for themselves earning a semifinal berth by playing out a 2-2 draw, while Punjab handed Andhra Pradesh their second consecutive defeat to stay in contention for a semi final berth.

Defending champions Haryana showed their class by totally outplaying Jharkhand to register a 2-0 victory. Haryana dominated the proceedings from the word go and forced two penalty corners in the first two minutes. In the seventh minute, star forward Mamta Kharab latched on to a mistake by Pushpa, but her shot was just wide of the mark.

Haryana were finally successful in the 25th minute when a move down the right flank saw Jasjeet Kaur pass on to Balwinder Kaur who relayed it to Mamta Kharab. Mamta's shot was padded away by the goalkeeper Marita but the rebound landed staright to her and this time she made no mistake.

In the second half, a penalty corner in the 40th

minute saw Haryana increase their lead when the shot taken by Suman Bala found the net. Haryana now have six points from two games, while Jharkhand and Punjab both have three each from two matches and play Andhra Pradesh and Haryana in the last match respectively.

The match between Maharashtra and Chandigarh was much more evenly balanced and saw both the teams missing some easy chances early on.

Maharashtra felt that they were cheated of a goal when just before the half time a shot taken by Papki Devi of a penalty corner rose sharply and went into the goal which the umpire disallowed for lifting. However, the Maharashtra girls contended that it had lifted after hitting the stick of a defender.

The second half again saw the repeat of the first half with both teams entering the circle but then not being able to finish it off.

In the dying minutes of the game, Prakash Chaudhary of Chandigarh was stick checked inside the box resulting in a penalty stroke for them. Ashrita Toppo stepped forward to take it and did not miss to give Chandigarh the victory.

Chandigarh now have six points from two matches, while Maharashtra have three and Orissa and Delhi one each in pool 'B'.