Bala Devi Pumps in 10 Goals as Manipur, Odisha Reach Senior Women's Nationals Semis

New Delhi: Ngangom Bala Devi was in an ominous form for Manipur as they reached the semi-finals of Senior Women's National Championships in emphatic fashion on Friday. Manipur was joined in the semi-final line-up by Odisha later in the day.

Railways and Tamil Nadu had advanced to the semi-finals on Thursday with a 12-0 win over Himachal Pradesh and a 4-2 win over Madhya Pradesh, respectively. On Thursday, Yumnam Kamala Devi was the star of the day with six goals.

Manipur thrashed Jharkhand 15-2 while Odisha beats the hosts Arunachal Pradesh 5-0 in the quarter-finals at the CHF stadium in Pasighat.

In the first match of the day, Bala took it upon herself to charge Manipur into the semi-finals as she found the back of the net thrice inside the first 30 minutes of the match.

Bala, who had scored six goals in three matches ahead of the quarter-final, added 10 more (8', 16', 26', 31', 33', 35', 47', 52', 77', 84') to take her tournament tally to 19 goals.

While Manipur took a 2-1 lead inside the first 20 minutes, Jharkhand found one back in the 21st minute through Neel Kushum Lakra. However, it was meant to be a 'Bala day', as she scored three goals in a space of five minutes after the half an hour mark.

If Bala was leading Manipur right from the start, she was ably supported by Irom Prameshwori Devi (17') and Heigrujam Daya Devi (36', 38') as Manipur went into the break with a 9-1 lead.

The story did not change after the break Bala and Daya (48') combined to score three goals within seven minutes of the second half.

Daya grabbed her fourth goal in the 77th minute after which Bala found the back of the net two more times. In the middle of all of this carnage on one side, Sagita Kumari scored Jharkhand's second goal in the 82nd minute.

For Odisha, Deepa Nayak scored a brace while Runi Nayak, Jasoda Munda and Sumitra Xalxo were the other scorers as they advanced to the last four.

It was Deepa who opened the scoring for Odisha in the 16th minute and it took them the 34th minute to get their second through Runi.

Jasoda found the third for Odisha in the first minute of the stoppage time of the first half as Odisha led 3-0 at half time.

Sumitra, who came on as substitute in the 46th minute, found the back of the net in 71st minute and Deepa scored her second in the 74th minute to ease Odisha to victory.

While Manipur's victory was witnessed by 2000 people, Odisha vs Jharkhand was attended by 7000 spectators.

SEMI-FINAL LINE-UP:

Match 1: Railways vs Odisha (09.30AM)

Match 2: Tamil Nadu vs Manipur (2.00PM)