Senior Hockey Nationals: Delhi, Jharkhand, Bengal register wins

Jharkhand and Bengal emerged victorious on the third day of the senior men's national championship here on Friday. In the first Pool A match, Delhi registered a 3-2 win over Punjab in a closely contested affair.

Dheeraj Vats opened the scoring in the 10th minute for Delhi, but Lovepreet Jainth found the equaliser in the 13th minute. Mehkeet Singh scored the second goal to give Punjab the lead but Vats struck again, in the 25th minute, to level the scoreline.

Both the teams defended well in the third and fourth quarter, but just before the final whistle, Rohit scored the winner in the 60th minute for Delhi. Chandigarh were handed a 2-3 defeat by Jharkhand, while the match between Jammu and Kashmir and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu ended in a thrilling 3-3 draw.

Bengal and Gujarat registered similar 3-2 victories over Puducherry and Arunachal, respectively.