Sher-e-Punjab enter World Series Hockey final

Sher-e-Punjab thrashed hosts Karnataka Lions 4-1 to sail into the final of the inaugural World Series Hockey here on Sunday.

Australian Matthew Hotchkis (17th), Karamjit Singh (39th), Harpreet Singh and captain Prabhjot Singh (68th) were the goal scorers for the Punjab side, while Naveen Kumar (11th) scored the lone goal for the hosts.

Punjab will now travel to Mumbai to face the winners of the second semifinal between Pune Strykers and Chandigarh Comets in the summit clash on Monday.

The scoreline could have been 5-1 in favour of Punjab had Hotchkis not missed a penalty stroke in the third quarter which was brilliantly saved by a diving Karnataka custodian Devesh Chauhan.

Contrary to the result, it was Karnataka which went ahead at the KSHA Stadium when an alert Naveen guided a high rebound ball into the net in the 11th minute from the right.

However, that was the only jubilant moment for Karnataka as from there on it was an all Punjab show.

Karnataka's joy was shortlived as Punjab equalised six minutes later when Hotchkis scored from a penalty corner to draw curtains to an exciting first quarter.

After a barren second quarter, Karamjit made it 2-1 in favour of Punjab when he scored a field goal by making full use of a freak pass.

The third quarter also went goalless but Punjab scored two more goals in the final 10 minutes of the match through Harpreet, who converted a penalty corner, and skipper Prabhjot to close out the game.