At the Hombe Gowda Nagar stadium, Andhra Pradesh recovered from a substantial eight-point half-time deficit to draw level with Haryana 22-all in the fourth minute of the second half. In the sixth minute, Haryana disputed the referee’s decision of crossing the end line and walked out in protest after the score became 24-22 in AP’s favour. Under tournament rules, with Haryana refusing to return to the court, AP were declared winners.
Until the unsavoury end, the match itself was of a very high standard and extremely intense.
Haryana rode on the heroics of Raj Singh and Hawa Singh to break into a 20-12 advantage at the breather, but AP fought back through Srinivas and Satish Reddy in the second half.
Beaten semifinalists Karnataka and Rajasthan were declared joint third. Haryana had rallied from a 9-19 half-time deficit to edge out Karnataka 28-26, while AP outclassed Rajasthan 46-19 in the other semifinals.
Results (semifinals): Haryana: 28 bt Karnataka: 26. HT: 9-19). AP: 46 bt Rajasthan: 19. HT: 27-8.
Individual awards: Best catcher: Mahadeva (Karnataka). Best raider: Kulwath Singh (Rajasthan). Best all-rounder: Satish Reddy (AP).
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