CHENNAI: Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, and Punjab emerged victorious in their respective quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals of the 13th Hockey India Senior Men’s National Championship 2023 here. Karnataka and Punjab were dominant in their wins, while Haryana went through a tense penalty shootout to make it to the top four. For the locals, Tamil Nadu’s thrilling comeback victory against UP was the highlight of the day.
In the first half, UP made most of their chances via penalty corners to get a two-goal lead. Under pressure, Tamil Nadu came back swinging in the second half with J Kavin Kishore (33rd minute) scoring the first goal. Captain J Joshua Benedict Wesely’s two late goals (52 and 59) secured the semifinal spot against Haryana. “Even in the last few minutes, we were still in the match.
We told players to remain calm and we will get our chances. I had a belief in the boys that they would create the opportunities at the last minute,” Tamil Nadu coaching duo T Charles Dixon and N Muthukumar said. “It has been a very interesting tournament because international players are playing for their state teams. Youngsters are getting to play with them and now they will know how to develop from their side and understand how the hockey is played at that level.
We hope to see a lot of players coming up from Tamil Nadu. The hockey fever that started with the Asian Champions Trophy is going on and it will continue for a long. We will learn a lot from this,” the duo added.
Results: Karnataka bt Jharkhand 4-1; Tamil Nadu bt Uttar Pradesh 3-2; Haryana bt Odisha 2-2 (3-2 SO); Punjab bt Manipur 4-2.
