Uttar Pradesh hockey coach hails team after Junior Men's National Championship triumph

Uttar Pradesh Hockey coach Rajesh Sonkar hailed his team after they cruised to a 3-1 win over Hockey Chandigarh. The victory came at the Junior Men's National Championship held in Kovilpatti in Tamil Nadu.

Arun Sahani scored a brace (16', 34') while Sharda Nand Tiwari scored the opening goal for Uttar Pradesh in the 15th minute. Raman scored Hockey Chandigarh's only goal.

Uttar Pradesh coach Rajesh Sonkar said the secret to his team's success is the unity amongst the players.

"This has been a combined team effort from the boys who have each given everything for the team. There are a lot of players in this team who have the potential to break into the national team setup if they can keep up this level of performance," he said.

"High time Uttar Pradesh won the title" - Rajesh Sonkar

Uttar Pradesh became the only team in the Junior Men's National Championship to have a 100% win record in this edition of the tournament.

The Uttar Pradesh hockey team looked confident from the word go and were determined to win the title, after failing to do so in the recent past.

Uttar Pradesh Hockey team coach Sonkar added that it was high time the team had crossed the final hurdle, after failing the past few times.

"I think Uttar Pradesh hockey team has reached the latter stages of quite a few nationals tournaments, but has not been able to get over the line in quite a few years. I am elated that this group was able to not just reach the final, but also win the gold medal," he added.

Odisha beats Haryana for bronze medal

Later, the Hockey Association of Odisha beat Hockey Haryana 3-2 in a closely contested match to clinch third place and win the bronze medal.

The Hockey Association of Odisha took the lead in the match through Deepak Minz (27'), only to be pegged back by two goals from Rohit (34') and Deepak (36'), who put Hockey Haryana in the lead in the third quarter.

However, the Hockey Association of Odisha upped the ante in the fourth quarter through goals from Sushant Toppo (47') and Sudeep Chirmako (49') to hold on to the lead and win the bronze medal.