Odisha claimed the honours at the 12th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship here on Tuesday with a 2-0 win against Karnataka in the final that saw both teams struggling in the hot conditions.
Goalless at half time, Odisha finally found things going its way four minutes after resumption when Punam Barla managed to find the net past the Karnataka defence.
The first half had been erratic with Odisha even missing a penalty stroke in the 20th minute but in less than ideal conditions, Karnataka could not take advantage, committing errors of its own.
The first-time finalist earned a penalty corner as well in the fourth quarter as it finally went all out in a desperate attempt to level scores but was unable to convert it. Instead, it was Odisha that managed to find a foot in the opposition circle and earned a PC of its own in the 59th minute, Ashim Kanchan Barla making no mistake in sealing the game in her team’s favour.
In the play-off for the 3rd place, Jharkhand beat Haryana 3-2 despite some desperate fightback from the latter in the last 10 minutes. Jharkhand appeared cruising for an easy victory at the end of third quarter with a 3-0 lead and content defending it but Haryana, having missed a handful of chances early on, was not ready to give up.
Two goals in as many minutes, one of them off a penalty stroke in the 56th, saw Jharkhand snapping up to scramble its defence and avoid a shootout, managing to hold off the opposition for the remaining period to deny them. This is the first time Haryana women have failed to win a medal in the competition since 2016.
The results: Final: Odisha 2 (Punam Barla, Ashim Kanchan Barla) bt Karnataka 0; 3/4 place: Jharkhand 3 (Dipti Toppo, Albela Rani Toppo, Betan Dungdung) bt Haryana 2 (Amandeep Kaur, Bharti Saroha).
