Hockey Maharashtra Jr women lose in quarters

The Maharashtra junior women`s team. PIC/Hockey Maharashtra

The Hockey Maharashtra women's team, led by Himanshi Gawande, suffered an embarrassing 0-9 defeat to eventual champions Hockey Madhya Pradesh in the quarter-finals of the Hockey India Junior National Women's Championships in Rourkela, Odisha, recently. The defeat saw the Maharashtra girls finish eighth in the 28-team tournament.

HMP's Soniya Kumre (6th, 18th, 50th minute) netted a fine hat-trick while Bhumiksha Shahu (11th, 44th min) scored a brace and Sonia Devi (5th), Aashrita Thakur (43rd), Jyoti Singh (11th) and Gurmail Kaur (27th) contributed a goal each to complete the rout.

Also Read: Indian junior women's hockey team qualifies for FIH Junior World Cup

Interestingly, the Hockey Maharashtra girls flattered to deceive after registering dominant victories in their two league encounters earlier in the tournament. In their opening Pool 'D' match, Hockey Maharashtra beat Kerala Hockey 8-1, with Tanushree Kadu netting a hat-trick and skipper Gawande, Sarika Mane, Aishwarya Dubey, Khushi and Krushna Mane netting a goal each. S Prasanna pulled one back for the Kerala side.

Then, in their second league encounter, the Maharashtra girls trounced Delhi Hockey 6-2 thanks to skipper Gawande's hat-trick, a brace by Khushi and Mane's solitary strike. Delhi Hockey scored through Muskan and Subham.

Hockey Madhya Pradesh emerged Junior National champions, beating Hockey Jharkhand 1-0 in the summit clash with Gurmail Kaur netting the all-important tournament-winning goal in the 22nd minute.