Jhansi, Oct 21 (IANS) Hockey Haryana came from behind to beat Hockey Madhya Pradesh 2-1 in the Division ‘A’ final and win the title in the 16th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship 2026 in Jhansi on Wednesday. Uttar Pradesh beat Punjab 3-1 in the third-place match.
In the final, Hockey Haryana prevailed over Hockey Madhya Pradesh 2-1.
Mohammad Zaid Khan gave Madhya Pradesh the lead with a field goal in the 14th minute. Haryana equalised in the second quarter when Navraj Singh scored a penalty corner in the 21st minute. The match stayed level until the 50th minute, when Joginder Singh scored the winner from another penalty corner. Haryana reached the final by beating Punjab 4-2 in a shootout after a 3-3 draw in the semi-final. Madhya Pradesh beat Uttar Pradesh 5-3 in their semi-final.
Hockey Punjab went down 1-to-3 to Uttar Pradesh Hockey in the third-place match.
Akash Pal scored two field goals (15′, 21′) to give Uttar Pradesh a 2-0 lead at half-time. Pawandeep Singh pulled one back for Punjab with a field goal in the 41st minute. Chandan Yadav sealed the bronze medal with a penalty corner in the 58th minute. Uttar Pradesh lost 3-5 to Madhya Pradesh in the semi-final, and Punjab lost on a shootout to Haryana.
Earlier, Hockey Haryana defeated Hockey Chandigarh 5-1 in the quarterfinals. Haryana scored five field goals. Manjeet gave them the lead in the 20th minute, and Harpal scored twice (26′, 28′) to make it 3-0 at half-time. Pankaj added a fourth in the 51st minute. Captain Singh scored Chandigarh’s only goal in the 59th minute, and Shubham restored the four-goal margin with a field goal in the final minute.
Hockey Punjab had a tougher time as they got the better of Hockey Maharashtra 5-4 in the shootout) after their match ended 1-1 in regulation time.
Ujwal Singh gave Punjab the lead with a penalty stroke in the 7th minute, and they held it until the 49th minute. Ravi Paresh Bharadia then levelled for Maharashtra with a penalty corner. In the shootout, Gurjot Singh, Simranjot Singh, Lovenoor Singh, Dilraj Singh and captain Harjeet Singh all scored for Punjab. Maharashtra scored four times, through Dhairyashil Jadhav, Babu Venkati Metkar and Prajwal Moharkar. Punjab goalkeeper Paras Malhotra saved Ajinkya Jadhav’s attempt in the third round.
Final standings, Division ‘A’
Champions: Hockey Haryana
Runners-up: Hockey Madhya Pradesh
Third place: Uttar Pradesh Hockey
–IANS
bsk/
