Chennai, Aug 6 (IANS) Hockey Punjab and Hockey Jharkhand registered victories on Wednesday to cement their places in the final of the 15th Hockey India Sub Junior Men National Championship 2025, held at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium.

Hockey Punjab sealed their place in the final with a narrow 4-3 defeat of Uttar Pradesh Hockey while in the second semifinal, Jharkhand defeated Hockey Madhya Pradesh 3-1.

Hockey Punjab will now face Hockey Jharkhand in the summit clash, while Uttar Pradesh Hockey will meet Hockey Madhya Pradesh in the third-place fixture on Thursday.

In the first semifinal, Hockey Punjab overcame Uttar Pradesh Hockey, 4-3. Sukhdev Singh (51’, 52’) struck a late brace, after Mandeep Singh (19’) and Varinder Singh (28’) scored in the first half. Harsh Pratap Singh (9’), Ali Shahrukh (21’), and captain Ketan Kushwaha (28’) were the scorers for Uttar Pradesh Hockey.

In the other semifinal, Hockey Jharkhand defeated Hockey Madhya Pradesh, 3-1. Though Love (21’) gave Madhya Pradesh the lead, Jharkhand bounced back with goals from Soreng Sumray (29’), Ashish Tani Purti (44’) and Jaysan Kandulna (56’) to surge into the finals.

Earlier on Tuesday, Uttar Pradesh Hockey defeated Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu Hockey 4–1; Hockey Punjab overcame Hockey Association of Odisha 4–3; Hockey Jharkhand blanked Hockey Chandigarh 13–0 while Hockey Madhya Pradesh prevailed over Hockey Haryana 2–1 in quaterfinel matches to reach the semifinals.

–IANS

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