State girls in semis

A Maharashtra player clears the ball away from a Manipur player during their Senior National quarter-final match in Pune recently

Hosts Hockey Maharashtra defeated Manipur Hockey 2-1 in a keenly contested quarter-final of the 14th Hockey India Senior Women's National Championship at the Major Dhyanchand Hockey Stadium in Pimpri, Pune, on Wednesday night.

Maharashtra's Priyanka Wankhede emerged as the star performer with two goals in a match that saw strong resilience from the defences of both sides. The first two quarters went goalless despite Hockey Maharashtra being awarded five penalty corners. Wankhede then broke the deadlock in the third quarter (32nd minute) with a field goal.

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Thirteen minutes later, Wankhede doubled her team's lead with her second goal of the night as she successfully converted a penalty corner towards the end of the third quarter. Manipur Hockey skipper Lily Chanu Mayengbam pulled one back in the dying moments of the match (60th min) but it wasn't enough to stop Hockey Maharashtra from qualifying for the semi-finals where they will take on Hockey Madhya Pradesh in Friday. In the other semi-final, Hockey Jharkhand will face Hockey Haryana.

"Although the scoreline of this match reads 2-1, we were well in control for most part of the game. We relaxed a little towards the end, but that won't happen in the semis," said Hockey Maharashtra coach Sagar Thakur.

Earlier, in the other quarter-final encounters, Hockey Haryana beat Hockey Association of Odisha 4-1, Hockey Jharkhand defeated Hockey Mizoram 2-1 and Hockey MP beat Hockey Bengal 4-3 via shootout.