The first five quarterfinalists of the competition were officially confirmed after the final round of league matches in Pool A to E on the sixth day of the 12th Hockey India senior women’s National championship in Bhopal on Wednesday.
With the respective Pool toppers already decided, the battle on the day was for second-place honours in the respective groups. Chandigarh defeated Bihar 6-2 in Pool A to win its only league game while Assam registered an easy 8-0 victory over Bengal in Pool B. Priyanshi Singh struck a hat-trick and captain Elina Tigga scored a brace.
In Pool C, Chhattisgarh recorded a 7-1 win against Tripura riding on three goals by Anjali Mahto. Priya scored the lone goal for Tripura two minutes from time. In Pool D, Rajasthan fended off Uttarakhand in a fighting game for a 3-1 win.
In Pool E, Andhra Pradesh thrashed Puducherry 16-0 after leading 9-0 at half-time.
The results:
Pool A: Chandigarh 6 (Monika, Sonu, Kavita, Rajani, Priyanka, Rajani Waskale) bt Bihar 2 (Nutan Topno, Nusrat Khatoon).
Pool B: Assam 8 (Priyanshi Singh 3, Elina Tigga 2, Milka Surin, Miximi, Khushboo Prajapati) bt Bengal 0.
Pool C: Chhattisgarh 7 (Anjali Mahto 3, Leena Kosare 2, Rushali Kashyap, Pooja Yadav) bt Tripura 1 (Priya).
Pool D: Rajasthan 3 (Reena Kanwar Balawat 2, Nidhi Chanderia) bt Uttarakhand 1 (Monika Chand).
Pool E: Andhra Pradesh 16 (Lotla Mary 5, K.V.V. Durga 4, Bandaru Padmavathi 4, Pulicherla Roshitha 3) bt Puducherry 0.