Shahabad, MP hockey academy enter semi finals

Shahabad Academy and Madhya Pradesh hockey academy entered the semi-finals of the All-India Women's hockey tournament being played at the Aishbagh Stadium in Bhopal.

Shahabad Academy defeated Orissa XI 3-2 in a closely contested match while Madhya Pradesh hockey academy beat Uttar Pradesh XI by a margin of 2-1 last night to make their berths in the semi-finals.

In the first match, Poonam Barla of Orissa scored the first field goal of the match in the 16th minute.

But four minutes later, Navjot Kaur of Shahabad Academy hit a brilliant field goal and equalised the score 1-1.

Sandeep Kaur scored another goal for Shahabad Academy through a penalty corner just before the first-half.

Shahabad Academy was leading by 2-1 at the breather.

In the second-half, Lilima Minj of Orissa levelled the score 2-2 in the 52nd minute after converting a penalty corner.

However, in the 57th minute Navjot Kaur scored another field goal for Shahabad Academy through a brilliant field goal and put the match in her team's kitty by a margin of 3-2.

In another match, Jamila Bano and Vartika Singh converted two penalty corners into goals in the sixth and 16th minutes for Madhya Pradesh hockey academy.

At the breather, Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy led 2-0.

However, in the second-half, Uttar Pradesh played an attacking game and reduced the margin to 2-1 by converting a penalty corner through Aarti in the 62nd minute.