Kerala split points with Kashmir in junior hockey

Lucknow - Kerala split points with Jammu & Kashmir playing out a 4-4 draw in a pool G league match of the Junior National Men’s Hockey Championship at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium here Tuesday.

In other matches, Chhattisgarh defeated Gujarat 8-0 in a pool C match, Maharashtra beat Uttarakhand 5-0 in a pool E match, Bengal got a walkover from Assam who failed to turn up, SAI Bhopal beat Tamil Nadu 5-0 in pool E whereas Karnataka beat Chandigarh 2-0 in pool G.

Trailing by 2-4 till the 60th minute, Kerala bounced back to score field goals through Sarin E (63rd minute) and Sandeep SP (69th) to share points.

Earlier, Jammu & Kashmir struck two early goals to take a 2-0 lead in the first 20 minutes of play. Tarvinder Pal Singh converted a penalty corner in the ninth minute while Abhinandan Singh scored a field goal in the 18th minute (2-0).

Though Kerala reduced the margin through Sandeep SP with a field goal six minutes before the break (1-2), Jammu & Kashmir scored the third one in the 38th minute via a penalty corner by Jasprit Singh.

Four minutes later Kerala once again managed to reduce the margin, when captain Joshan George converted another short corner (2-3). But in the 54th minute Abhinandan Singh netted his second to put Jammu & Kashmir ahead 4-2.