Punjab, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu win junior men's zonal hockey titles

The results of the inaugural edition of the 2023 Hockey India Junior Men's Zonal Championships ended last Sunday (March 26). Since selected pockets mainly contribute to the national team, the preliminary round zonal matches held in different zones were one-sided.

While Hockey Punjab were winners of the Northern Zone competition held in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, the Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu emerged victorious in the Southern Zone competition held in Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu.

Hockey Punjab beat Uttar Pradesh Hockey 3-2 in the final to win the North Zone title, while Haryana defeated Chandigarh 2-1 to win third place.

Despite investing heavily in building hockey infrastructure and playing hosts to global hockey competitions, including the 2022 FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup, Odisha's team failed to win the East Zone tournament held in Ranchi as they lost to Hockey Jharkhand in the final. The Hockey Association of Odisha finished second and Bihar third.

Hockey Madhya Pradesh, which is largely dependent on the state government-run hockey academy in Gwalior, too faced a challenging task to beat Hockey Rajasthan to win the West Zone title. The West Zone tournament was conducted in Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh.

Hockey Karnataka and Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu were locked 2-all during the regulation time. In the shootout, Tamil Nadu beat Karnataka 5-3 to win the Southern Zone title. Hockey Karnataka won second place, while Kerala Hockey beat Hockey Andhra Pradesh 4-3 to secure third place.

In the East Zone tournament held in Ranchi, Hockey Jharkhand beat the Hockey Association of Odisha 3-1 to win the title. Hockey Bihar outplayed Hockey Bengal by 3-1 to win third place.

In the West Zone competition, Hockey Madhya Pradesh beat Hockey Rajasthan in shootout 3-2 to win the title. Both the teams were 1-all in regulation time.

Hockey Madhya Pradesh Coach Mangal Vaid said the zonal competition was a good opportunity for those players who don’t get chance to play in the nationals.

“I believe the zonal format gives the budding players more chances to showcase their potential and at the same time prepare for the big competition,” the Madhya Pradesh team coach said.