Kakinada, Aug 9 (IANS) Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh won their respective matches in the quarterfinals of the 15th Hockey India Junior Women National Championship - Division 'A', sealing their spots in the semifinals here on Saturday.

In the quarterfinals played on Saturday, Haryana defeated Odisha 4-1, Chhattisgarh Hockey beat Hockey Madhya Pradesh 2-1, Hockey Jharkhand overcame Hockey Punjab 3-1, while Uttar Pradesh Hockey prevailed over Hockey Maharashtra 2-1.

In the first match of the day, Hockey Haryana enjoyed a comfortable 4-1 victory over Hockey Association of Odisha. The winning side opened the game strongly with an early goal by Kajal (2'), followed by another one in the second quarter by Supriya (27') to extend the lead.

Captain Sashi Khasa (36') also featured on the scoresheet with a goal in the third quarter. In the final quarter, Amisha Ekka (47') scored a consolation goal for Hockey Association of Odisha, but Saavi (60') struck the net again for Hockey Haryana to help her side win with a sizable lead.

The second fixture of the day saw Chhattisgarh Hockey win 2-1 over Hockey Madhya Pradesh in a shootout after a 1-1 draw over the four quarters. Yashoda (2') struck an early goal for Chhattisgarh Hockey; however, Huda Khan (15') promptly equalised for Hockey Madhya Pradesh towards the end of the first quarter.

The teams battled for possession over the next three quarters but couldn't find a winning goal. Kajal scored one of her attempts during the shootout for Hockey Madhya Pradesh, while Captain Rukhamani of Chhattisgarh Hockey scored both her attempts during the shootout to help her side qualify for the Semi-Finals.

In the third quarterfinal, Hockey Jharkhand defeated Hockey Punjab 3-1 to progress ahead in the tournament. Pawanpreet Kaur (6') of Hockey Punjab scored the first goal of the game through a penalty corner, but their lead only lasted a minute. Sweety Dungdung (7') scored a field goal for Hockey Jharkhand to equalise, followed by goals from Shanti Kumari (22') and Roshni Aind (46') to seal the victory.

The final fixture of the day saw Uttar Pradesh Hockey celebrate a 2-1 win over Hockey Maharashtra. After an extremely close and goalless first half, Sallu Pukhrambam (36') scored the opening goal for Uttar Pradesh Hockey in the third quarter; however, moments later, Hockey Maharashtra's Diksha Nitin Shinde (45') levelled the game again through a field goal. In the final quarter of the match, Rashmi Patel (55') scored the winning goal through a penalty corner for Uttar Pradesh Hockey.

--IANS

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