Manipur, Haryana qualify for quarter-final League

Chandigarh, July 14 (UNI) Defending champions Manipur and unpretentious Haryana made it to the Group I quarter-final league and topped their respective clusters in the third Junior Girls Under-16 National Football Championship here today.

Both recorded their second successive victories and with six points apiece qualified for the second phase of the championship.

Led by international M Bem-Bem, Manipur blasted Madhya Pradesh by 20-0. The highlight of the Manipur's easy triumph was a hat-trick by N Chan-Chan Chanu who contributed five goals. She netted in the third, 14th, 28th, 33rd and 38th minutes. Captain Ben-Bem (26th, 41st, 67th, 79th), Binodini Devi (40th, 43rd, 74th), Y Kamla Devi (fourth, 23rd, 54th), G Radharani Devi (66th), H Bijeta Devi (75th), N Montesori Chanu (49th), M Mandakini Devi (6th) and T Nungshitombi Devi (42nd) were the other scorers.

Earlier, Manipur had beaten Jammu and Kashmir by 17-0. Manipur have yet to concede a goal while they have so far scored 37 goals in two matches.

Haryana blanked Pondicherry by 10 goals for their second successive triumph in Cluster D. Diksha emerged the star performer by netting four goals (16th, 25th, 34th, 65th minutes). Meenakshi struck in the 10th and 49th minutes. Preeti (12th, 29th), Monty (59th) and Priyanka (60th) were the other scores for the winners.

Pondicherry displayed their talent before bowing out of the tournament winless. Chattisgarh were the third competitors in Cluster. They ended their campaign with one win and one loss.

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