Khelo India Youth Games Football: Punjab stage fine recovery to down Goa

The northern state topped the pool as they advanced to the knockout rounds in emphatic fashion.

Punjab staged a fine recovery to down Goa 2-1 to maintain an all-win record, even as both teams made it to the semi-finals from Pool B of the boys U-21 football competition at the Khelo India Youth Games here on Tuesday.

Goa took the lead in the 56th minute through Leny Fernandes but substitute Gurprinder Singh drew parity for Punjab in the 66th minute while Ramandeep scored the winner five minutes before the final whistle.

Punjab topped the pool winning all three matches while Goa were second with six points (two wins, one loss).

In Under-17 Pool B action, Kerala beat Odisha and Maharashtra beat Uttar Pradesh with the score being 3-1 in both cases.

For Kerala, the goals came from Joshua M. Koshy, Muhammad S. and Akmal Shan P.P. Dula Murmu reduced the margin for Odisha.

Riding on Jay A. Kamat’s brace, Maharashtra outpaced Uttar Pradesh with Karan R. Prajapati getting the third goal for the hosts while substitute Mohd F. Parhan got Uttar Pradesh’s only consolation goal.

In the Girls U-17 Pool B section, Jharkhand and Manipur having already qualified for the last-four stage, played the last game to decide who would top the group. Jharkhand kept their slate clean, defeating Manipur 4-1. Sunita (2) Sumati, and Sharda scored for the winners while Laishram reduced the margin for Manipur.

In the same group, in an inconsequential match Uttar Pradesh beat Chandigarh 2-1 in the same group.

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In the Girls U-21 section, Manipur defeated Bihar 4-1 for their third successive win while Maharashtra beat Jharkhand 2-0 to complete the semi-final line-up from Pool B. H. Daya Devi (2), Sultana and Th. Babysana Devi were on target for Manipur while Neha Kumari scored Bihar’s lone goal. Maharashtra recorded their second win to top the group with Muriel Adam and Aishwaraya Jagtap getting their goals against Jharkhand.

Results:

Boys U-17: Kerala bt Odisha 3-1, Maharashtra bt Uttar Pradesh 3-1

Boys U-21: Karnataka bt Manipur 2-1, Punjab bt Goa 2-0

Girls U-17: Jharkhand bt Manipur 4-1, Uttar Pradesh bt Chandigarh 2-1

Girls U-21: Manipur bt Bihar 4-1, Maharashtra bt Jharkhand 2-0

Semi-final line-up:

Boys: Under 17: Maha v Punjab; Kar v Kerala

Boys: Under 21: Punjab v Kerala, Goa v Mizoram

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Girls Under-17: Odisha v Manipur; Kerala v Jharkhan

Girls Under-21: Maharashtra v TN; Mizoram v Manipur