September 17, 2024: The Punjab team secured a place in the semi-finals of the 14th Hockey India Junior National Championship by defeating Odisha 7-6 in a shootout. In other quarter-finals, Haryana edged out Jharkhand 5-4 in a shootout, Karnataka beat Madhya Pradesh 5-4 in sudden death, and Uttar Pradesh overcame Manipur 3-2 to advance to the final four.
The championship is being held at the Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium. Four quarter-final matches were played today. In the first quarter-final, Karnataka defeated Madhya Pradesh. The match was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation time, with goals from DR Pavan and Vivek Ravi for Karnataka, and Ali Ahmed and Muhammad Anas for Madhya Pradesh. Karnataka won 5-4 in sudden death.
In the second quarter-final, Uttar Pradesh beat Manipur 3-2. Goals for Uttar Pradesh were scored by Ashu Moria, Rahul Rajbhar, and Ajit Yadav, while Silibba Lism and Y Bindia Singh scored for Manipur.
The third quarter-final saw Haryana win 5-4 in a shootout against Jharkhand. The match was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation, with goals from Navraj Singh and Amit Khalsa for Haryana, and Roshan Ikka and Namit for Jharkhand.
The fourth quarter-final also ended in a shootout, with Punjab defeating Odisha 7-6 to advance to the semi-finals. The match was tied 3-3 at the end of regulation, with Punjab captain Ujjwal Singh scoring a hat-trick. The chief guests for the matches today included Olympians Colonel Balbir Singh, Shamsher Singh, Harpreet Singh Mander, Dr. Saurav Lakhanpal, Manjit Singh Deol, and Jasvinder Singh Khaira, who met with the teams.