Southern Railway wins Basheer Ahmed tournament

Chennai: Overcoming the shock of a second minute goal, Southern Railway seized the trophy with a 2-1 victory over Sports Authority of India (South) in the all-India Basheer Ahmed hockey tournament at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium on Friday. SAI led 1-0 at half-time.

The cup tussle turned out to be an absorbing one thanks to the enthusiasm and energy displayed by the SAI team which required a 4-0 win to cut the deficit in goal-difference. The opportunistic strike by Sampath Kumar in the early minutes infused the encounter with sufficient verve throughout.

Southern had to gather all its strength to fight back. It did successfully on account of the splendid individual display by Lakshman Karan who netted the equaliser. Mahendra Singh and Diwakaran lent a helping hand too and the duo produced the match winner with Diwakaran deflecting a cross from Singh in the closing minutes.

Among those impressive in the SAI team were Naveen and Shankar Patil.

Southern Railway received a cash award of Rs.50,000 for winning all the three matches in the league. Indian Bank won Rs.30,000 for being second followed by ICF and SAI which won Rs.20,000 and Rs.10,000 respectively. Southern finished with nine points and the remaining three tied at three points each with goal difference identifying their places.

Earlier, Indian Bank beat ICF 4-3.

Mr. T.P.M. Moideen Khan, Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs, presided and gave away the prizes.

The results: (semifinal league): Southern 2 (Lakshman Karan, Diwakaran) bt SAI (South) 1 (Sampath Kumar); Indian Bank 4 (Ashwin, Philip Martin 2, Harikrishnan) beat ICF 3 (Shyam Kumar 3, hat-trick).Man of the match: Lakshman Karan.

Individual awards: Best goal-keeper: Suresh (S.Railway); forward: Naveen (SAI, South), Half backs: Sivamani (SAI) and Hariprasad (Indian Bank) .