Junior National men’s hockey: Waribam saves the day for Manipur

Manikkkavasagan put Puducherry ahead (5-3) with a splendid hat-trick before Waribam came to the team’s rescue with a double delight.

Waribam Nirajkumar Singh struck twice in the final quarter to help Manipur secure a 5-5 draw against Puducherry in a Pool G clash of the 11th Junior National men’s hockey championship at the SDAT astroturf grounds here on Tuesday.

Manikkkavasagan put Puducherry ahead (5-3) with a splendid hat-trick before Waribam came to the team’s rescue with a double delight.

In another lop-sided clash, Delhi did not sweat much on its way to a 14-1 win over an off-colour Gujarat.

The results:

Pool F: Tamil Nadu 5 bt Andaman & Nicobar 0 (after Andaman forfeit match); Jammu & Kashmir 3 (Zahid Shabir, Gagandeep Singh, Arun Preet Singh) bt Himachal 1 (Mohit Sharma).

Pool G: Delhi 14 (Nitin 3, Rahul 2, Sahil Kumar 2, Govind Singh Bisht, Ganesh, Nand Kishor, Zainul Samar Manmeet Singh, Rohit, & Abhinandan) bt Gujarat 1 (Vikas Yadav); Manipur 5 (Khangembam Somikant Singh 2, Waribam Nirajkumar Singh 2, Gurumayum Dingku Sharma) drew with Puducherry 5 (T. Manikkavasagan 3, J. Jayaprathap, S. Suriya).

Pool H: Bihar 6 (Rohit Lama 2, Sachin Dungdung, Sanchit Horo, Subal Kerketta, Turtan Minz) bt Assam 1 (Neck Ali).