Jharkhand beat Maharastra to enter men''s hockey final

Ranchi, Feb 24 (PTI) Jharkhand defeated Maharashtra 2-1to enter the final of men''s hockey competion at the 34thNational Games after the remaining 15 minutes of thecontroversy-marred semi-final was resumed here today.

The hosts will take on Punjab, who got the better ofServices 3-2 in another last four match, in the title clashtomorrow.

The match, which ended abruptly yesterday after it wasreferred to the technical committee because of a dispute overa penalty stroke, was resumed from the 55th minute today withboth the teams locked at 0-0.

But Jharkhand came out a determined unit today and pumpedin two goals in the final 15 minutes while their opponentscould found the net only once.

Yesterday, the match was stopped abruptly following anunruly crowd behavior after the referee awarded a penaltystroke to Maharasthra and the Jharkhand players protestedagainst the decision.