Gangpur-Odisha, Maharashtra enter final of hockey nationals

Gangpur, Odisha and Maharashtra will face each other in the title clash of Division B after registering hard-fought wins in their respective semifinals of the fourth Hockey India Senior Men National Championship, here today.
While the Odisha outfit defeated Namdhari XI 2-0 in the first semifinal at the Major Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium, Maharashtra beat Mumbai Hockey Association (MHA) by a 2-1 margin in the other last-four match.
Gangpur-Odisha's both goals came in the second half through penalty corner conversions by William Xalxo (42nd minute) and captain Ashish Anmol Minz (59th).
In the second semifinal, Maharashtra rode on Navneet Swarnkar (1st, 46th) twin strikes to get the better of MHA, whose only goal came from the sticks of Amit Goswami in the 40th minute.

Meanwhile, in the second day of Division A matches, Food Corporation of India (FCI) defeated Haryana 4-1 to register its first win while Uttar Pradesh and Railways recorded their second consecutive victories.
After losing to Railways yesterday, FCI made an strong comeback to score the easy win over Haryana in Pool D.
FCI scored throuigh Ganendrajit Ningomban (6th and 59th minutes), Sunil (16th) and Vikram (22nd), while Haryana's lone goal was scored by Harpal Singh (45th) from a penalty stroke.