Times of India: Punjab crowned National hockey champion
LUCKNOW: Hockey Punjab were crowned champions of the 8th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship after they came from a goal down to defeat Petroleum Sports Promotion Board 2-1 in a well-fought encounter on Sunday.
Petroleum Sports Promotion Board had taken an early lead in the match as Gurjinder Singh converted a penalty corner in the 3rd minute to settle the early nerves for his team.
However, Hockey Punjab made a comeback in the last seven minutes of the match, Sarvanjit Singh scoring two goals in the 53rd and 60th minutes.
In the Bronze medal match, it was defending champions Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) who defeated Air India Sports Promotion Board 5-3 on penalties after the scores were tied at 1-1 after regulation time.
RSPB had taken an early lead in the match in the 5th minute as Sayyad Niyaz Rahim scored a field goal to put his team in the lead.
However, Air India showed character to fight back and scored the equaliser in the 17th minute through Shivender Singh. Both the teams tried to utilise their attacking opportunities but neither succeeded and the match finished tied at 1-1 after regulation time.
In the penalty shootout, RSPB kept their nerve as they scored from all five of their shots while Air India missed their second shot which saw them lose 3-5.