Pabitra Hodam’s Four Straight Shootout Saves Win ASMITA East Zone Title for Odisha Naval Tata
Some finals are won by the team that scores the most goals. This one was won by a goalkeeper who wouldn’t let any in.
Odisha Naval Tata Hockey High Performance Centre are champions of the ASMITA East Zone Junior Women Hockey League 2026-27, after beating the Hockey Association of Odisha in a penalty shootout in the final in Bhubaneswar on Monday 9 November.
The game itself finished 3-3 after regulation, a proper end-to-end final between the two best sides in the zone. Then Pabitra Hodam took over. The Odisha Naval Tata goalkeeper saved all four shootout attempts she faced, four in a row, and her side converted two of theirs to take the title 2-0 on shootout. Hodam was named Player of the Match in the final, and on that evidence there wasn’t another candidate.
Revenge, served cold
What makes it sweeter is that the Hockey Association of Odisha had already beaten them once in this tournament. The two sides met in the final group game, and the state association side won that one 3-1. Odisha Naval Tata had started the tournament like a train, 6-0 over Bihar and 16-0 over Assam, then hit that wall. So the final was a rematch, and a chance to put it right.
They did. Losing a group game and then beating the same team when the trophy is on the line is the kind of thing that stays with a young side, and this group looks like one to watch. Four teams played the tournament: Assam, Bihar, the Hockey Association of Odisha and Odisha Naval Tata.
“The way the girls bounced back after their group-stage defeat and delivered such a spirited performance in the final reflects their resilience and competitive character,” said Gurmeet Singh Rao, the project director at Odisha Naval Tata Hockey HPC. “Pabitra Hodam’s exceptional performance in the shootout deserves special appreciation.”
He’s right about the goalkeeper. Four shootout saves in a row in a final is the stuff that gets a young keeper noticed, and Hockey India will have been watching. The ASMITA leagues are built for exactly this: giving junior players real finals, real pressure, and a stage to show they can handle it.
Odisha Naval Tata have done that twice over now. They dominated the group, took a punch in the last group game, and then won the game that mattered. That’s a champion’s week, whatever the level.
