Jhansi, 18 October 2026: Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh reached the semi-finals of Division ‘A’ at the 16th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship 2026 in Jhansi. Punjab edged Maharashtra in a shootout, and Madhya Pradesh scored five unanswered goals to beat Bengal.
Quarter-Final 1: Hockey Haryana 5-1 Hockey Chandigarh. Haryana scored five field goals. Manjeet gave them the lead in the 20th minute, and Harpal scored twice (26′, 28′) to make it 3-0 at half-time. Pankaj added a fourth in the 51st minute. Captain Singh scored Chandigarh’s only goal in the 59th minute, and Shubham restored the four-goal margin with a field goal in the final minute.
Quarter-Final 2: Hockey Punjab 1-1 Hockey Maharashtra (Punjab win 5-4 in the shootout). Ujwal Singh gave Punjab the lead with a penalty stroke in the 7th minute, and they held it until the 49th minute. Ravi Paresh Bharadia then levelled for Maharashtra with a penalty corner. In the shootout, Gurjot Singh, Simranjot Singh, Lovenoor Singh, Dilraj Singh and captain Harjeet Singh all scored for Punjab. Maharashtra scored four times, through Dhairyashil Jadhav, Babu Venkati Metkar and Prajwal Moharkar. Punjab goalkeeper Paras Malhotra saved Ajinkya Jadhav’s attempt in the third round.
Quarter-Final 3: Hockey Madhya Pradesh 5-3 Hockey Bengal. Rohit Kujur gave Bengal the lead in the 12th minute and made it 2-0 in the 38th. Madhya Pradesh then scored five unanswered goals in 18 minutes. Captain Yousuf Affan (39′), Arjun Sharma (48′ penalty corner, 57′), Shreyas Dhupe (50′) and Mohd Konain Dad (55′) all scored. Kujur completed his hat-trick in the final minute, but it did not change the result.
Quarter-Final 4: Uttar Pradesh Hockey 4-2 Manipur Hockey. Akash Pal scored twice (12′, 24′) for Uttar Pradesh, and Sumit Kumar added a field goal in the 19th. Suresh Sharma Adhikarimayum (14′) and Cyril Lugun (20′, penalty corner) kept Manipur level at 1-1 and 2-2. Sharda Nand Tiwari then scored a penalty stroke in the 38th minute, which proved to be the winner. Manipur could not find another goal.
DATE . 20/Oct/2026