Bhopal, May 6 : Punjab defeated Haryana 4-2 to lift the eighth Hockey India Junior Men National Championship (A Division), it was announced on Sunday.

Gangpur-Odisha secured the bronze medal as they defeated Odisha 6-1 in the match for the third place.

In the final match of the competition, Punjab came from two goals down to defeat Haryana 4-2. It was Haryana who took a 2-0 lead after 37 minutes and looked like winning the match. 

However, Punjab scored four goals in the second half to secure the title, after having finished with the bronze medal last year. 

It was Gursahibjit Singh who scored a hat-trick of goals for Hockey Punjab in the 42nd, 57th and 65th minutes while Karajwinder Singh (70th minute) also found the back of the winner for the Champions. Hockey Haryana's two goals were scored by Deepak (26th) and Mohit (37th).

In the bronze medal match, Hockey Gangpur-Odisha defeated Defending Champions Odisha 6-1 to secure a podium finish. 

The match saw Hockey Odisha take the lead in the 16th minute through Dibesh Jojo's field goal. However, Hockey Gangpur-Odisha struck four goals before the half-time whistle to take a 4-1 lead into the break. 

Gangpur-Odisha made sure that they followed in the footsteps of their women's team as they scored twice in the second half to secure an emphatic 6-1 win.

Goals for Gangpur-Odisha were scored by skipper Pratap Lakra (27th minute, 59th, 63rd), Sanjay Xalxo (24th, 35th) and Sudeep Chirmako (32nd).

 

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Tehran: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who was considered a potential successor to the supreme leader, died in a helicopter crash in northern Iran, state media reported on Monday. He was 63.

The tragic incident occurred amidst heightened tensions in the Middle East, particularly due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. Last month, under the directive of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Raisi had overseen an unprecedented drone-and-missile attack on Israel, further escalating regional unrest.

Social media buzzed with speculation following the news of the crash. On the microblogging platform ‘X’, the hashtag #Mossad trended as netizens speculated that the Israeli intelligence agency was behind the mishap. One user commented, “It’s never an accident,” reflecting widespread suspicions.

President Raisi was returning from a ceremony to open a dam on Iran’s border with Azerbaijan when the helicopter crashed. He had been in Azerbaijan earlier on May 19 to inaugurate the dam alongside Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev. Raisi’s death was confirmed in a statement by Vice President Mohsen Mansouri and on state television, according to Reuters.

The helicopter crash follows recent escalations in the region. Iran had launched a deluge of drones and missiles on Israel in response to a suspected Israeli strike that killed top Iranian officials in Syria, deepening the conflict between the two countries.