Karnataka set up quarter-final clash with UP

Lucknow: Hockey Karnataka edged past Puducherry Hockey 3-2 to set up a Division 'A' quarter-final clash with Uttar Pradesh Hockey in the 15th Hockey India Senior Men's National Championship at Jhansi on Thursday.
Karnataka drew the first blood as skipper Raheel Mohammed converted a penalty corner in the 12th minute. In the 27th minute, T Arun Kumar scored the equaliser through a penalty stroke. Both teams continued to battle for the lead, and then in the 37th minute, Puducherry were awarded a penalty corner, which P Mahendran converted brilliantly to make it 2-1. However, two back-to-back penalty corner conversions by Sheshe Gowda in the final minutes sealed the victory for Karnataka.
Earlier, Hockey Madhya Pradesh upset Hockey Punjab 3-2. Skipper Yousuf Khan, Mohit Karma, and Saddam Ahmad found the back of the net for MP in the 4th, 18th, and 45th minutes, respectively. Punjab intensified their attack in the last quarter and were rewarded with two late goals from Araijeet Singh and Gursahibjit Singh, but it wasn't enough to secure the win.
Later in the day, Hockey Maharashtra defeated Hockey Jharkhand 4-3 to reach the quarter-finals. Aditya Lalage scored a brace for Maharashtra. Meanwhile, in the final match of the day, the Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu played to a goalless draw with Hockey Bengal.