Hockey Punjab, Hockey Association of Odisha, Hockey Jharkhand and Hockey Madhya Pradesh booked their semifinal berths in the 16th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship 2026 – Division ‘A’ on Wednesday after four exciting quarterfinal encounters.
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Hockey Punjab booked their place in the semifinals with a convincing 5–2 victory over Hockey Karnataka in third quarterfinal. Ajaypal Singh (22′), Jarman Singh (C) (24′), Sunny (32′), Amandeep (35′) and Gurwinder Singh (60′) found the net for Punjab, while Kiran Reddy scored both goals for Hockey Karnataka in the 21st and 28th minutes.
In second quarterfinal, Hockey Association of Odisha registered an emphatic 5–1 win over Hockey Haryana. Lelsan Minz starred with a brilliant hat-trick (15′, 20′, 46′), while Mandeep Kerketta (3′) and captain Deepak Pradhan (60′) also got on the scoresheet. Prince scored the lone goal for Hockey Haryana in the 41st minute.
Karnataka edge Bengal 4-3, while Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh post victories
The closest contest of the day saw Hockey Jharkhand edge past Uttar Pradesh Hockey in a shootout after the teams were locked at 3–3 at the end of regulation time. Satyam Pandey (28′) and Triloki Venvanshi (33′, 50′) scored for Uttar Pradesh Hockey, while Patras Hassa (26′), Bhengra Gledshan (43′) and Nicolas Topno (60′) struck for Hockey Jharkhand. In the shootout, Rohit Tirkey, Jolen Topno, Patras Hassa and Ankit Ekka converted their attempts, while goalkeeper Sahu Prince produced crucial saves to seal a 4–3 shootout victory for Jharkhand.
In the first quarterfinal, Hockey Madhya Pradesh defeated Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu Hockey 7–3 in a high-scoring encounter. Subhan Abid (23′, 43′), Rajveer Singh (19′, 23′) and captain Ritendra Pratap Singh (37′, 56′) each scored twice, while Aashir Aadil Khan added another in the 41st minute. Sumit Rajbhar (40′), Suraj (47′) and Moohamed Jaeed (52′) scored for Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu Hockey.
The semifinals will be played on Thursday, with Hockey Association of Odisha taking on Hockey Punjab and Hockey Jharkhand clashing against Hockey Madhya Pradesh.
