Haryana became the national hockey champion after 11 years

Haryana won the title after 11 years by defeating Tamil Nadu 3-1 in a shootout in the final of the 12th National Hockey Championship on Sund...

Haryana won the title after 11 years by defeating Tamil Nadu 3-1 in a shootout in the final of the 12th National Hockey Championship on Sunday. By the stipulated time both the teams were tied at 1-1. Earlier, Haryana had won the title in 2011. Karnataka defeated Maharashtra 4-3 in the qualification match for the third to fourth place.

Deepak had given Haryana the lead in the fourth minute but Sarwan Kumar had leveled Tamil Nadu in the 10th minute. In the shootout, Haryana capitalized on three out of four attempts while Tamil Nadu lost three penalties after scoring in the first attempt.

Haryana team head coach Sandeep Sangwan said that the team performed well throughout the tournament. The team's performance has improved in recent years. He said that when Haryana won the title for the last time in 2011, he was also involved in the coaching team. Then Gagandeep Singh was the youngest player of the team and today he is leading the team. This win will motivate the junior and sub junior level players to do better.

- KTP Bureau