Jamshedpur, SAIL Hockey Academy and hosts Naval Tata Hockey Academy, Jamshedpur recorded contrasting victories to reach the final of the 2nd Hockey India Junior Men's Academy National Championship here on Saturday.
SAIL prevailed over Army Boys Sports Company 4-3 in a shoot-out while Naval Tata Academy got the better of Roundglass Punjab Hockey Club Academy 3-1 in their respective semi-finals here to set up Sunday's clash in the final.
Captain Kerobin Lakra gave SAIL Hockey Academy the lead in the second minute which was cancelled out by Army Boys Sports Company's Ankit in the 15th minute.
Nitesh (40') then restored SAIL's lead again, only to have Ramaji Prasanth Kumar (54') level scores for Army Boys to take the match into a shootout.
In the shootout, Anmol Ekka, Kerobin Lakra, Tarun Yadav scored for SAIL Hockey Academy, while Sanchit Horo, Ramaji Prasanth Kumar and Nitish Kumar found the net for Army Boys Sports Company. Manoranjan Minz's miss turned out to be costly for Army Boys Sports Company in the sudden death as SAIL Hockey academy advanced to the final with a 4-3 shoot-out win.
In the second semi-final, Naval Tata Hockey Academy, Jamshedpur beat Roundglass Punjab Hockey Club Academy 3-1. Lalpreet Singh (5') gave an early lead to Roundglass Punjab Hockey Club Academy before the home team turned the tables around with goals from Simon Bodra (12'), Deepak Soreng (30') and Md Danish (51') to book their place in the final.