Punjab defends Junior Men's National hockey title

Defending champions Punjab edged past Odisha 2-1 to lift the third Hockey India Junior Men National Championship at Motil Lal Nehru Sports Complex, Rai here on Thursday.

Punjab scored their opening goal through skipper Gaganpreet Singh who converted a penalty corner in the 10th minute, while Odisha leveled the score in the 24th minute with a field strike from Joseph Toppo.

In the second half, both the teams fought hard but before captain Gaganpreet converted yet another penalty corner in the 63rd minute, his second of the day, to hand Punjab the title.

Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy (MPHA) defeated Hockey Maharashtra 5-4 to finish third in the championship.

MPHA scored through Mohd Nizamuddin (19th, 28th min), Arjun Sharma (26th, 69th) and Arman Qureshi (42nd) while Ashutosh Lingesh (9th) and Mithlesh Kumar (60th, 63rd) were on target for Hockey Maharashtra. The other goal for Maharashtra came from through an own goal in the 30th minute.