Maharashtra thrash Uttarakhand 22-0, hosts Tamil Nadu beat Assam 15-1 in National Men's Hockey Championship 2023

Modified Nov 17, 2023 17:46 IST

Tamil Nadu player Karthi Selvam (in blue) - Image via Hockey India

Hockey Madhya Pradesh took on Manipur Hockey in a Group E fixture of the 13th Hockey India Senior Men's National Championship 2023 on Friday (November 17). The match took place at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium in Chennai.

Manipur started the contest on a positive note leading 3-0 at the end of the first quarter. Madhya Pradesh tried to get back into the game, courtesy of Mohd Nizamuddin's goal in the 17th minute to make it 1-3. However, Manipur proved to be a tough challenge for Madhya Pradesh as the former eventually won the match 7-2.

Laishram Dipu Singh and captain Chinglensana Singh were the top performers, having scored a brace each to hand their team a convincing victory in their season opener.

Earlier in the day, Punjab received a 5-0 walkover against Tripura, as the latter failed to turn up for the game.

Meanwhile, Hockey Maharashtra took on Hockey Uttarakhand in what was a one-sided contest in favor of the Yuvraj Walmiki-led side. Maharashtra led 5-0 at the end of the first quarter. They added six more goals during the second quarter to have an 11-0 lead at half-time.

Additionally, they scored four goals in the third quarter and seven in the final quarter, including Venkatesh Kenche's hat-trick to win the match 22-0.

Venkatesh Kenche overall scored a double hat-trick for his side. Meanwhile, captain Yuvraj scored four goals. Darshan Vibhav Gawakar scored a hat-trick, while Parjwal Mohakar, Rohan Patil, and Pranav Mane netted a couple of goals each.

Moreover, Mayur Dhanavade, Ganesh Patil, and Aamid Sarfaraz found the net once each.

The Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu were up against Assam Hockey in the final encounter of the day. The hosts start their campaign with a bang, registering a 15-1 victory in their season opener.

They led 4-0 at the end of the first quarter and added five more goals to their tally by the end of half-time. They scored three goals each in the remaining two quarters to make it 15 against Assam.

Meanwhile, Assam could get only a single goal in the match, which came off skipper Rupchand Boro's stick in the 42nd minute.