RSPB lift senior women hockey national title

Bhopal: Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) today shocked defending Champions Haryana 4-0 to clinch the 4th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship (Division A), on Sunday.

Coming into the match as the favorite for the title, Haryana could not live upto the expectations and allowed the pressure to seep in. Taking advantage of this, RSPB players kept the attack on the opponents in the entire first session. Their consistency saw results in the 25th minute when Vandana Katariya scored a field goal for the team. Just before going into the break RSPB scored their 2nd goal in the 34th minute when Captain TH Chanchan pounded the ball past the goalkeeper and converted a field goal. In the second half, while Haryana tried making a comeback but somehow failed to convert the chances they got. RSPB on the other hand within two minutes into the second half scored their 3rd goal when Poonam Rani scored through a field goal. In the 42nd minute of the game Vanadana Katariya scored her 2nd goal and the 4th for the team, which saw Haryana loosing the finals. In a one-sided match Jharkhand ruled the entire session of the match playing for the 3rd position against Punjab. The team opened their score card when Poonam Balra scored through a field goal in the 8th minute. The team continued its attack during the rest of the session, but was unable to convert the chances that they got. Just before going into the break, Birsi Mundu in the 34th minute pounded the ball past the goalkeeper and taking the team to a lead of 2-0. The second session was no different and Jharkhand continued their onslaught when in the 40th minute Binita Xess scored the 3rd field goal for the team. Kabita Mourya scored 2 back to back goals in the 64th and 69th minute helping the team to take the win with a huge margin of 5-0. With this Jharkhand is placed in the 3rd position and Punjab in the 4th position.