Lucknow, Feb 27 (IANS) Debutants Hockey Gangpur-Odisha and Vidarbha Hockey Association started their campaign on a winning note in Division B of the fourth Hockey India Senior Men’s National Championship at the Major Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium here Thursday.
In the opening match, Gangpur defeated Puducherry 9-2 in Pool C. For Gangpur, Bruno Hedrino Lugun and Banamali Xess scored twice each while Amarjeet Ekka, Kishor Lakra, Bikash Toppo, Roshan Minz and Ashish Anmol Minz contributed a goal each. Puducherry scored through N. Sellamuthu and N. Kamalakannan.
Bengal defeated Tripura 4-0 in another Pool C match.
In Pool D, Chhattisgarh played out a 1-1 draw against debutants Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). Chhattisgarh took a 1-0 lead in the 53rd minute by a Sachin Rathaur field goal but two minutes later Rohen Singh Thangjam scored a field goal for CRPF to level the game.
In the second Pool D match, Dalbir Singh scored two goals helping Vidarbha to register a 2-1 win over Delhi.
Later in Pool D, Maharashtra overcame Kerala 8-0. Kunal Jagdale scored three goals followed by Rajendra Ekka (2), Navneet Swarnkar (1), Manpreet Singh (1) and Vinod Nimbore (1).
Results:
Pool C: Gangpur 9 beat Puducherry 2; Bengal 4 beat Tripura 0.
Pool D: Chhattisgarh 1 drew Central Reserve Police Force 1; Vidarbha 2 beat Delhi 1; Maharashtra 8 beat Kerala 0.