Hockey Maharashtra, Hockey Bihar & Uttar Pradesh Hockey inch closer to place in final 8

Hockey Maharashtra beat Chhattisgarh Hockey 9-2 and Hockey Bihar defeated Hockey Mizoram 4-0 to share top position. Both teams with six points each will clash on Thursday to decide who would advance to the quarterfinals. Hockey Maharashtra is at an advantage ahead of this clash with a better goal average of +25 as against +6 of Bihar. Uttar Pradesh Hockey beat Hockey Jharkhand 3-0, making it two-out-of-two wins and taking their tally to 6 points.

Also lining up for a place in the last 8 are Odisha and Hockey Bengal. Both played out an exciting draw, leaving them level on 4 points with a win-draw from the two matches they played.

The day began with Hockey Bengal staging a brilliant comeback to hold Odisha 3-3, after trailing 0-3. Odisha completed the first half with a comfortable lead.

Hockey Bengal turned the tables in the second half. Both Odisha and Hockey Bengal are tied for the top spot in the pool with 4 points (2 matches). Both have a similar goal difference of +8, leaving it all to their last pool matches to decide who moves into the quarter-finals. Hockey Gujarat won a seven-goal thriller against Goans Hockey 4-3. For Hockey Gujarat, it was their first win in two matches, while for Goans Hockey it was their second loss.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Hockey had it easy against Hockey Jharkhand 3-0. The win helped Uttar Pradesh maintain their clean record after logging their second win, which pushed them to the top of the pool standings. In the same group, Kerala Hockey beat Assam Hockey 2-1.