Haryana aim to book Women's National Hockey Championship final berth

They face Punjab in the semi-final on Friday.

The Semi-Finals of the 11th Hockey India Senior Women's National Championship 2021 are upon us and the top four teams Hockey Maharashtra, Hockey Madhya Pradesh, Hockey Haryana and Hockey Punjab will battle it out on Friday, 29 October 2021, for a place in the Final of the 11th edition of the tournament.

The first Women's National Hockey Championship Semi-Final will witness Hockey Maharashtra take on Hockey Madhya Pradesh, Hockey Maharashtra defeated Hockey Karnataka 2-0 in their Quarter-Final on Wednesday. Speaking about their Semi-Final match, Hockey Maharashtra Coach Chingshubam Sanggai Ibemhal said, "It's great to have qualified for the Semi-Finals. However, the Hockey Madhya Pradesh is a good team. We have played well in the tournament so far. We didn't put up our best performance in the Quarter-Final against Hockey Karnataka so we are looking to improve our game in the Semi-Final. We will strategize according to Hockey Madhya Pradesh's strengths and weaknesses."

Hockey Madhya Pradesh on the other hand booked a place in the Semi-Finals with a comprehensive 5-1 victory over Hockey Jharkhand in the Women's National Hockey Championship Quarter-Finals. Speaking about their Semi-Final match, Hockey Madhya Pradesh Coach Vandana Uikey said, "Our first target was to reach the Quarter-Finals of the tournament, the team performed very well in the Quarters, which was a high-scoring match as well. The players are high on confidence. We are expecting to win the Semi-Final and book a place in the Final. The team has played outstandingly in the tournament so far."

Hockey Haryana square off against Hockey Punjab in the other Semi-Final on Friday. Hockey Haryana are coming off a hard-fought 1-0 win over Uttar Pradesh Hockey in their Women's National Hockey Championship Quarter-Final match.

Speaking about the team's performance and the side's targets ahead of their Semi-Final match, Hockey Haryana Coach Kuldeep Siwach said, "The team has performed well in the tournament so far. Hockey Haryana and Hockey Punjab have been playing well in the competition. We have worked on a few aspects of the team's game in the lead-up to the Women's National Hockey Championship Semi-Final and we hope that we can apply our learnings in the upcoming match. We are the defending champions, so we have to work hard to defend our title."

Hockey Punjab also earned a hard-fought victory over Odisha in their Women's National Hockey Championship Quarter-Final match. Hockey Punjab defeated Odisha 2-1 on Wednesday. Speaking about their match-up against Hockey Haryana, Hockey Punjab Coach Meenakshi Randhawa said, "Hockey Haryana has been dominating the Hockey India Senior Women National Championship for many years. However, Hockey Punjab has made a comeback in the tournament after a while so we will give everything we have in the Semi-Final. We have performed well in the tournament so far. However, we have to improve on our counter-attacking skills. We have tried to improve on our counter-attacking during practice."

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