Railway Sports Promotion Board won their sixth straight title as they were crowned the champions of the Hockey India senior women national championship 2019 by defeating Hockey Madhya Pradesh 5-0 in the final held at the Astroturf International Hockey Stadium in Hisar on Monday.
A brace each from Neha (12’, 16’) and Navneet Kaur (25’, 28’) along with Vandana Katariya’s goal in the 10th minute saw the defending champions secure yet another title. It was Hockey Haryana who defeated Hockey Maharashtra 3-2 in the bronze medal match.
The final of the competition saw Railways Sports Promotion Board start strongly, scoring their first goal in the 10th minute as experienced forward Vandana Katariya got her name on the score-sheet. Seconds later, it was Neha who struck for the defending champions as she scored off a penalty corner in the 12th minute to make it 2-0.
Hockey Madhya Pradesh found it difficult to defend against the constant attacking threat of Railway Sports Promotion Board, and ended up conceding a third when Neha scored off a penalty corner in the 16th minute. Hockey Madhya Pradesh tried to find their feet in the match, but top-scorer Navneet Kaur came up with two more goals in the 25th and 28th minutes to get increase tally to 12 goals.
The fourth and the fifth goals finished Hockey Madhya Pradesh’s hopes of making a comeback. In what turned out to be a replay of last year’s final, Hockey Madhya Pradesh came up short again, after having lost 0-4 last year as well.