Khelo India Youth Games: UP, Haryana win golds in U21 Hockey competitions

Hockey competitions at the Khelo India Youth Games 2020 ended on January 21 with Haryana winning two gold while Uttar Pradesh and Chandigarh getting one each. In the final game of Under 21 Boys, Uttar Pradesh defeated Haryana in a penalty shootout as the teams failed to score a single goal in the regulation time. In Under 21 Girls final match, Haryana defeated Jharkhand in a high voltage match where the latter came back thrice with equalizer but conceded to more goals before the final whistle.

On January 20, the Maulana Md. Tayabullah Hockey Stadium witnessed another two gold-medal games where Chandigarh and Haryana flourished. The result of Under 17 Boys match had to be decided in a penalty shootout as the scoreline read 2-2 after the regulation time. Chandigarh finally defeated Uttar Pradesh 2-0 in a penalty shootout.

“I am really happy with the way our team played. We executed our plans brilliantly today because we had lost 2-8 to them in our Pool A match. However, during the final it was more about countering their tactics, and making sure we were always focused on the task ahead,” said Chandigarh’s coach Gurminder Singh.

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Day of shootouts

It was a day of penalty shootouts as the U17 Girls final match could not arrive at a result during the regulation time. At the very last moment of the match, Jharkhand scored an equalizer to take the game to the penalty shootout. Jharkhand converted their first shot of the shootout but failed to find the target after it, giving Haryana a much deserved 2-1 win.

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Maharashtra is comfortably leading the medal tally with 75 gold while Haryana is at the second position with 58 gold. Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, the states who were in a tough fight to claim the top-three spot in the first week, are at the third and fourth position respectively with the former having a clear advantage of 9 gold.

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(With PTI inputs)