- Strong start by Jharkhand, Haryana
- Uttar Pradesh-Manipur match 1-1 draw
- Jharkhand 6-0, Haryana won by 10-1
Pune: 16th Hockey Hockey Jharkhand and Hockey Haryana took the lead in their respective groups on the first day of Division 'A' in the India Junior Women's National Championship 2026. In Group A, Hockey Jharkhand defeated Hockey Chandigarh 6-0, while in Group B, Hockey Haryana registered a resounding 10-1 win over Hockey Bengal. Meanwhile, in Group 'C', the match between Uttar Pradesh Hockey and Manipur Hockey ended in a 1-1 draw (Pune) both teams had to settle for one point each. The tournament is being held at the Major Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium in Nehrunagar, Pimpri and is being hosted by Hockey Maharashtra and under the guidance of Hockey India. The matches of the tournament are being played in two divisions namely Division 'A' and Division 'B'.
Hockey Jharkhand dominated from the start and defeated Hockey Chandigarh 6-0 in the Group 'A' match in Division 'A'. Pushpa Dang from Jharkhand scored two goals in the 20th and 44th minutes and contributed significantly to the team's victory. Apart from this, Horo Esther scored a goal in the 39th minute, Mundari Saroj in the 40th minute, Jamuna Kumari in the 51st minute and Sangeeta Kumari in the 54th minute. The Chandigarh team could not score a goal in the entire match. With this win, Hockey Jharkhand strengthened their lead in the group with a winning start.
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Haryana's resounding victory over Bengal 10-1
In the group 'B' match, Hockey Haryana displayed an aggressive game and secured a big win over Hockey Bengal 10-1. This was the highest margin of victory in the tournament so far. Kaur Sukhpreet from Haryana scored two goals in 2nd and 21st minutes. Anjani scored in the 6th, 49th and 57th minutes to register a hat-trick. Khasa Shashi scored two goals in the 14th and 47th minutes. Bhavya and Khushi scored a goal each in the 29th minute, while Diksha scored in the 52nd minute to seal a big win for Haryana. Jadia Salmi scored the team's only goal in the 17th minute from Hockey Bengal.
Uttar Pradesh-Manipur match tied
In Group 'C', the battle between Uttar Pradesh Hockey and Manipur Hockey was very tight. The match ended in a 1-1 draw as both teams scored one goal each. Patel Vandana from Uttar Pradesh Hockey scored a goal in the 20th minute to give the team the lead. However, in the same 20th minute, Manipur Hockey's hoodrom Bidyalakshmi Devi scored a goal to tie the match again. Both teams failed to score any more goals after that. As a result, both teams got one point each.
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Karnataka leads the points table
After Sunday's matches, Hockey Karnataka is leading in Division 'B' Group 'B' with 9 points from 3 matches. Hockey Uttarakhand is at second position with 7 points from 4 matches, Hockey Bihar is at third position with 4 points from 3 matches.Hockey Tamil Nadu is at fourth position with 3 points from 3 matches. Goans Hockey suffered their third straight defeat in the tournament.