Ajaypal singh

Hockey India Junior Men National: Teams from Odisha, Punjab, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh emerged victorious in four exciting quarterfinal encounters as the semifinal line-up of the 16th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship 2026 – Division 'A' was confirmed on Wednesday.

Hockey Punjab booked their place in the semi-finals with a convincing 5–2 victory over Hockey Karnataka in the third quarterfinal. Ajaypal Singh (22'), Jarman Singh (C) (24'), Sunny (32'), Amandeep (35') and Gurwinder Singh (60') found the net for Punjab, while Kiran Reddy scored both goals for Hockey Karnataka in the 21st and 28th minutes.

In quarterfinal 2, Hockey Association of Odisha registered an emphatic 5-1 win over Hockey Haryana. Lelsan Minz starred with a brilliant hat-trick (15', 20', 46'), while Mandeep Kerketta (3') and captain Deepak Pradhan (60') also got on the scoresheet. Prince scored the lone goal for Hockey Haryana in the 41st minute.