Uttar Pradesh clinch 12th HI Junior Men National C’ship title

Panaji
Uttar Pradesh emerged as the champions of the 12th Hockey India Sub Junior Men National Championship 2022 after defeating Jharkhand 3-0 in the final of the tournament, which was held in Goa on Sunday. Shahrukh Ali (10′, 13′, and 47’) scored all three field goals in the first and final quarters of the match for Uttar Pradesh.
It’s a great feeling to beat a strong team like Hockey Jharkhand in the final. It’s a big achievement for these kids, for me as a Coach and for the entire fraternity of Uttar Pradesh Hockey as well, said Uttar Pradesh coach Vikas Pal in a statement. It was a big win, to be honest. Players gave their best, and I would say the semi-final win against Haryana set the tempo for us. It boosted the confidence of our players and I think that really helped us today. I am feeling really proud of this achievement, and it will certainly motivate these kids of U-16 level to do well and win more and more medals to climb up the ranks in their career, he added.
Earlier in the day, Odisha defeated Haryana in the 3rd/4th place match to finish on the podium. Irengbam Rohit Singh (22′, 37′) struck a brace and thereby finished as the top scorer of the tournament with 12 goals, while Aryan Xess (7′), Ricky Tonjam (19′) and Sanjit Tirkey (24′) scored a goal for the winning team. Hockey Haryana’s goals were scored by Ravi (28′) and Captain Bittu (50′).