Deepika struck four goals as India Juniors gave a glimpse of its prowess with a 6-0 victory over SAI-B in group-A of the Khelo India women’s under-21 hockey league at here on Wednesday.
In another match, Anjali Panwar (5) and Simranjeet Kaur (4) powered Khalsa Academy, Amritsar, to a 15-0 victory over Mumbai Schools Sports Association.
Later in the day, Madhya Pradesh Academy did well to draw 2-2 with Pritam Siwach Academy, Sonepat, as Sadhna Sengar and Neeraj Rana scored the first and last goals of the match.
Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur inaugurated the league, which will be played in three phases. “All our athletes train very hard. It is also very important to get enough competition. Having leagues of this kind for competitive exposure through the year is crucial,” he said.
He also announced that the Sports Ministry would offer ₹15 lakh, to match the ₹15 lakh from Hockey India, for the champion team.
Indian Olympic Association president Narinder Batra said that it was a big initiative and expressed gratitude to the government for consistent support to hockey through the last few years.
The first phase of the league, featuring 14 teams, will be played till December 21. The second and third phase will be staged next year at two other venues.
The results (league): Odisha Naval Tata Centre 1 (Priya Toppo) bt Raja Karan Academy 0; India juniors 6 (Deepika 4, Mumtaz Khan, Beauty Dung Dung) bt SAI-B 0; Khalsa Academy, Amritsar 15 (Anjali Panwar 5, Simranjeet Kaur 4, Amandeep Kaur 2, Amreen Hamid 2, Chewang Tamang 2) bt Mumbai Schools Sports Association 0.
SAI-A 7 (Poonam Mundu 3, Sanjana Horo 2, Prini Kandir, Swarnika Rawat) bt Sports Hostel, Bhubaneswar 1 (Neha Lakra); Madhya Pradesh Academy 2 (Sadhna Sengar, Neeraj Rana) drew with Pritam Siwach Academy, Sonepat 2 (Disha, Tamanna Yadav); Har Academy 2 (Preeti, Jyoti) bt Jai Bharat Academy 0.
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