Men's Hockey National: Punjab defeats Haryana in shootout to clinch title

CHENNAI: Punjab held their nerves to outwit defending champions Haryana in a penalty shootout to clinch the title in the Senior Men's National Hockey Championship here on Tuesday.

Punjab and Haryana ended the regulation time tied at 2-2 before the former emerged a 9-8 winner in the shootout.

Punjab began the match on a strong note, scoring the opening goal in the 13th minute through Harjeet Singh. However, Haryana's Sanjay (25th) scored from a penalty corner to draw level.

Punjab skipper and India player Harmanpreet Singh (42nd) scored from a powerful drag flick to put his team in the lead. But Haryana's Rajant (50th) found the target to restore the parity.

During the shootout, Sanjay, Deepak, and Abhishek found the back of the net for Haryana.

Harmanpreet, Simranjeet Singh, and Sukhjeet Singh scored for Punjab as the contest entered into sudden death. In the seventh penalty shootout, Simranjeet beat the keeper, securing Punjab's hard-fought victory.

Tamil Nadu finish third.

Earlier, Tamil Nadu overwhelmed Karnataka 5-3 in a penalty shootout to take the bronze medal. In the 3rd/4th-place playoff, the score was tied at 3-3 at the end of regulation time.

BP Somanna (4th) scored the encounter's first goal for TN from a penalty corner.

But Karnataka clawed their way back into the contest with captain Sheshe Gowda (12th), Harish Mutagar (34th) and India forward Mohammed Raheel Mouseen (38th) scoring a goal each.

Tamil Nadu drew level through Sundarapandi (40th) and India forward Karthi Selvam (52nd), forcing the match to a shootout.

TN skipper J Joshua Benedict Wesely, Kanagaraj Selvaraj, Dhanush M, Sundarapandi and H Shyam Kumar were the scorers in the shootout.

Goalkeeper S Senthamizh Arasu stood tall for his side making a couple of good saves.