At the first Hockey India Junior Men Zonal Championships in 2023, Hockey Punjab, Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu, Hockey Jharkhand, and Hockey Madhya Pradesh were crowned champions.

At the first Hockey India Junior Men Zonal Championships in 2023, Hockey Punjab, Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu, Hockey Jharkhand, and Hockey Madhya Pradesh were crowned champions.

26 March 2023, New Delhi: The principal Hockey India Junior Men Zonal Titles 2023 finished up today in the North, South, East, and West Zones, with Hockey Punjab, Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu, Hockey Jharkhand, and Hockey Madhya Pradesh delegated as Champions in their particular Zones.

Zone North: Hockey Punjab was crowned champion, while Hockey Haryana and Hockey Uttar Pradesh came in second and third, respectively.

At the first Hockey India Junior Men North Zone Championships 2023, Hockey Haryana defeated Hockey Chandigarh 2-1 in the first match of the day to finish third in the North Zone. Gurpreet Singh's 24' goal gave Hockey Chandigarh the lead, but Hockey Haryana came back to win with 42' goals from Sunil Maan and 49' goals from Sahil from penalty corners in the second half.

In the North Zone Final, Hockey Punjab defeated Uttar Pradesh Hockey 3-2. Mohd Zaid Khan (14') and Ketan Kushwaha (36') scored for Uttar Pradesh Hockey, but Hockey Punjab held on and won with goals from Sudhanshu Kandiyal (21') and Captain Manmeet Singh (16', 42'), respectively.

South Zone: Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu lift trophy on home turf; Hockey Karnataka and Kerala Hockey finish 2nd and 3rd respectively 

Kerala Hockey won the first Hockey India Junior Men South Zone Championships 2023 in Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu, by a score of 4-3 over Hockey Andhra Pradesh to finish third in the South Zone. Muhammed Kaif's (25') and Team Captain Rijo Shaji's (25') goals gave Kerala Hockey a big lead early. Kerala Hockey also had Ashish Lakra (42') and Kolnati Sai Ram (43') on the scoresheet. In the meantime, Nadiminti Venkat (54') and Captain Shaik Ismail (36', 56') scored for Hockey Andhra Pradesh.

After Hockey Karnataka and Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu tied 2-2 at the end of regulation time, the match went all the way to the shootout. Hockey Karnataka received goals from Dhruva KR (11') and Dhruva BS (47'), while Hockey Tamil Nadu's Hockey Unit received goals from Hariharan Sudhakaran (21') and Anand Y (24'). Anand Y, Chief Srinivasan M, Hariharan Sudhakaran, Rakesh and Vel Ragavan R all changed over their punishment strokes for Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu to end the Shootout in support of themselves (5-3).

East Zone: Hockey Jharkhand champions at home; Hockey Association of Odisha and Hockey Bihar finish 2nd and 3rd respectively 

Hockey Bihar defeated Hockey Bengal 3-1 in the first game of the day at the 1st Hockey India Junior Men East Zone Championship 2023 in Khunti (Ranchi), Jharkhand. Hockey Bihar got goals from Karandeep (22'), Pankaj Jasrotia (31'), and Aakash Yadav (56'), while Hockey Bengal got a consolation goal from Bijay Shaw (33').

The Finals saw Hockey Jharkhand beat Hockey Association of Odisha by a 3-1 scoreline. Roshan Ekka (16’) and Deepak Soreng (43’, 55’) scored for Hockey Jharkhand while Anmol Ekka (36’) scored the lone goal for Hockey Association of Odisha.

West Zone: Hockey Madhya Pradesh beat Hockey Rajasthan in Shootout  

In the Shootout of the 1st Hockey India Junior Men West Zone Championship 2023 Finals, Hockey Madhya Pradesh defeated Hockey Rajasthan 1-1 (3-2) after the match was tied at 1-1 at the end of regulation time. Hockey Madhya Pradesh took the lead after Mayank Karma scored from 27 feet out to break the tie. However, Rahul Choudhary (32') scored an equalizer shortly after to send the match to Shootout. Sourabh Dande, Vinay Sanik, and Sourabh Mahar scored for Hockey Madhya Pradesh in the penalty shootout, and Deepak Singh stood tall for his side to win for their team.

For all results and match updates, click on: https://www.onlinecricketidnews.com/