The Hindu: Title for Punjab National Bank
Shoots out Indian Railways in the final
Punjab National Bank won its second major domestic hockey title in two weeks, defeating Indian Railways 5-3 on penalties after the teams were tied 1-1 in regulation time in the final of the 28th Lal Bahadur Shastri hockey tournament at the National Stadium here on Friday.
PNB, which had won the Nehru tournament 10 days ago, had to fight harder this time around. M.G. Ponnachha put Railways ahead in the third minute, and the team managed to hold on to the lead going into the break.
The second half saw PNB come back stronger, creating more chances and playing more aggressively in search of the equaliser.
Shamsher Singh finally found the breakthrough in 43rd minute to level the scores and the scoreline remained the same at the hooter, forcing the game into a shootout, where PNB was clearly superior.
The winner managed to find the net four of the five times while Railways could only manage to convert two of its chances. PNB received a winner’s purse of Rs. 2 lakh while Railways got Rs. 1 lakh.
The result (final):
PNB 1 (Shamsher Singh) bt Indian Railways 1 (MG Ponnachha) via shootout.
Top scorer of the tournament: Ajmer Singh (IR). Best goalkeeper: Jasbir Singh (PNB). Player of the tournament: Niyaz Rahim (IR). Fair play trophy: BSF .