CHENNAI: Haryana and Punjab emerged victorious in their respective semifinals to set up a derby of sorts in the final of the 13th senior men's national championship at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium. Punjab were at their dominant best against the young Karnataka side, while Haryana put together the experience of their Indian players to edge past hosts Tamil Nadu in the penalty shootout.
In the first semifinal of the day, Abhishek scored in the 41st minute to give Haryana the lead, but BP Somanna of Tamil Nadu scored the equaliser with seconds remaining. In the shootout, Haryana took a 3-2 lead before the video referral confirmed the foul committed by Tamil Nadu goalkeeper Senthamizh Arasu. As a result, referees awarded the penalty stroke to Haryana, and Joginder Singh converted it to seal a second consecutive final for his state.
"Late in the game, players are bound to make a few mistakes under pressure and that is what happened with us today. It happens and it is part of the game," Mukesh Kumar, Haryana's coach, told this daily. "We saw the mistakes we made in the quarterfinal against Odisha and prepared well for the semifinal. Every one of our opponents in this tournament has been strong so we had to prepare well for this. Our national players practice and take penalties regularly for India and they stood up once again for us. So we are glad it came out well," he added.
In the second semifinal, midfielder Shamsher Singh opened the account for Punjab in just the fourth minute, followed by a goal from forward Sukhjeet Singh (13th). Karnataka remained in the contest with a sensational goal from Abharan Sudev B (18th), but India captain Harmanpreet Singh (39th and 44th) and forward Akashdeep Singh (45th) scored three goals in less than 10 minutes to register a dominant win.
"We played very well throughout the tournament," Karnataka coach KC Ganapathy mentioned after the knockout loss. "Today our young side played the semifinal against the side made up of most of the Indian national players. Our inexperience showed in the third quarter, but I am happy with the way they played. Today, we conceded a few penalty corners than we would have liked, otherwise, our performance in the midfield was good. Overall, this has been a good platform and a learning experience for our players, especially playing against the experienced players," he concluded.
On November 28, Haryana and Punjab will wrestle for the title, while Karnataka will face hosts Tamil Nadu for the third-place finish. Results: Haryana bt Tamil Nadu 1-1(4-2 SO)
Punjab bt Karnataka 5-1
