Khelo India Youth Games 2019: Haryana beat Jharkhand to win girls U-17 hockey

Riding on striker Deepika's brace, Haryana survived the last quarter scare before beating Jharkhand 2-1 to win the Under-17 girls' hockey competition at the Khelo India Youth Games in Pune on Saturday.

Earlier in the morning, Odisha warded off a determined Punjab challenge to emerge 3-2 winners and claim the bronze, a media release said.

In the final, Jharkhand muffed several chances and paid the penalty.

They dominated the first quarter and had a fair share of ball possession in the second quarter but again failed to make use of the advantage.

The Haryana girls defended well and made incisive counter moves which rattled the Jharkhand defence.

Four minutes into the second half, Deepika gave Haryana the lead with a superb field goal and three minutes later she made it 2-0 with another opportunistic strike.

Just before the final whistle, Prini Kandir made no mistake in converting a chance that came her way to reduce the deficit for Jharkhand, but it was a case of too little, too late, the release added.