The high tempo game, played between two army teams, produced a lot of thrilling moments. Both teams missed couple of sitters at the start. The easiest of them was spurned by PCTC’s Sairaj Singh. The forward, unmarked in front of the goal, could not find the target after he was fed well by Rajesh Indwar. However, Sairaj made amends for his earlier miss with a neat through pass to Aind, which the latter deflected goalward to beat ASC custodian Gandhi in the 15th minute.

Unrelenting rain
Twenty five minutes on, rain started pouring down forcing the organisers to shorten the match to 30 minutes each half after consulting with both the team managers. The rain also dented ASC’s effort for an equaliser to a certain extent as Harpreet Singh slipped while attempting a hit with an open goal in front. A minute in to the second half, ASC levelled through Tete S. The ASC forward converted an indirect penalty corner after a pass from Harpreet.

But their joy was short lived as three minutes later, Mundu S put PCTC ahead through a penalty corner. Francis Baig’s drive was saved by Gandhi with his body behind the delivery and Mundu, pouncing on the loose ball, sounded the board.

Both teams raided the rival territory therafter at regular intervals. However, the defenders of both sides stood firm.

Good form
And whenever the defenders slipped, the goaltenders came to the party. PCTC’s custodian F Kujur was especially in good form, making a couple of brilliant saves. Kujur first denied Harpreet and then Tete with a flying effort, diving to his right, effectively saving the match for his team.

PCTC were a man down with three minutes left for the hooter as Sairaj got booked for dangerous play, but it hardly had any effect on the match. In the third place play-off, Karnataka State Police overcame Maratha Light Infantry 3-2.

For KSP, Roshan Madappa (14th PC, 34th) scored a brace and Pradeep (50th PC) netted once while Rathul Kekketa (10th) and Krishna Patel (39th PC) were on target for MLI.

Special awards:
Player of the tournament: Noel Dodrey (MEG Boys). Top scorer: Nikin Thimmaiah. Best goalkeeper: Altaf  (MLI). Best defender: Mohan Kumar (KSP). Best half-back: Harpreet Singh (ASC). Best forward: Cyprian Aind (PCTC).