Jharkhand stormed into the finals of the 11th Hockey India junior women championship underway in Simdega by thrashing mighty Maharashtra 3-1 on Thursday, making an entry into the penultimate stage of the prestigious event for the third time in a row.

Hosts Jharkhand will take on Haryana for the summit clash on Friday.

On Thursday, an aggressive Jharkhand, however, restricted them to play defensive right from start and also managed to pick the net at regular intervals to outshine the rivals. All three Jharkhand goals came in the form of penalty corners in the 14th, 42nd and 50th minute of the game. Maharashtra scored their only goal in the 17th minute.

In another semi-final clash, Haryana defeated Chandigarh 3-2, sealing their berth in the finals.

Hockey Jharkhand president Bhola Nath Singh said that going by the current performance of the team, Jharkhand was sure of lifting the champions trophy.

“The players have been on a winning streak since the start of the tournament. Now, it’s just a matter of one final match. Even though two best teams have made it to the finals, our players are in good shape. We are hoping of a memorable outing on Friday,” he said.

Hockey Simdega president Manoj Konbegi said the final would be played from 3pm. State sports minister Hafizul Hassan will be present as the chief guest. During the inauguration of tournament on October 20, chief minister Hemant Soren rolled out several projects for the promotion of the game in Simdega, regarded as the nursery of hockey.

“The final challenger will be played from 3pm and the game for the fourth position between Chandigarh and Maharashtra will be played from 9am in the morning (Friday),” said Konbegi.