MUMBAI: Champions Hockey Punjab suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu, last year’s runners up Hockey Haryana pummelled Hockey Manipur 7-0, while host’s Hockey Maharashtra lost to Uttar Pradesh Hockey 7-1 on the opening day of the IX Hockey India Junior National Championship at the SAI, training centre, in Aurangabad on Sunday.
Host’s Hockey Maharashtra disappointed in front of their home crowd. In the first ever meeting between both teams, UP Hockey were led by a five-goal feat by Gopikumar Sonkar (5) beat Hockey Maharashtra 7-1 at the bottom of Pool-C.