Piyush kumar

Khelo India Youth Games: Haryana boys regained their position in field hockey at the Khelo India Youth Games by breaking the strong resistance posed by Uttar Pradesh to clinch gold in front of a vociferous crowd at the Rajgir Sports Complex here late on Tuesday. Haryana won 1-0, courtesy Nishant’s 51st minute field goal in the fourth quarter.

Both Haryana and UP teams, comprised of more than 50% of Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) athletes, were locked in a stalemate till the end of the third quarter. A strong man-to-man marking from both sides ensured that most moves failed to cross the midfield. The game was quite thrilling than the scoreline suggests.

Haryana captain Pankaj Sharma said that the team knew that they would return minimum with the silver, so it was better to put in extra effort to secure gold. In the Khelo India Youth Games in Chennai last year, Haryana had settled for bronze after losing to Madhya Pradesh.