Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], March 27 : Roundglass Malerkotla clinched the gold medal in the inaugural edition of the Punjab Hockey League NexGen Girls (5S), defeating Roundglass Patiala 4-1 in the final.
Featuring 19 teams from the first-of-its-kind tournament culminated in a high-intensity finale, with hosts Malerkotla asserting their dominance throughout the knockout stages. Roundglass Khalsa College Amritsar secured the bronze medal after a convincing 6-2 win over Roundglass Ghuman in the third-place playoff, according to a press release.
The semi-finals witnessed emphatic performances from both finalists. Malerkotla produced a clinical display to register an 11-2 victory over Khalsa College Amritsar. Despite conceding first, Malerkotla responded in style, with Navdeep Kaur (4 goals) and Harmanpreet Kaur (3 goals) leading a relentless attacking surge.
In the second semi-final, Patiala mirrored that dominance with an 11-3 win against Ghuman. Shivani starred with four goals, while captain Jarmanpreet Kaur netted a hat-trick to guide her side into the final.
Khalsa College Amritsar, however, regrouped strongly to claim bronze, with six different players getting on the scoresheet in their 6-2 win over Ghuman.
The final saw Malerkotla captain Navdeep Kaur step up once again, scoring a crucial brace. Goals from Harmanpreet Kaur and Gurmanpreet Kaur set the tone before Navdeep's double, sealing a comprehensive 4-1 victory over Patiala.
Sulochani, who represented Roundglass Patiala, was named the Emerging Player of the Tournament, while Roundglass Malerkotla captain Navdeep was named the Best Player of the Tournament.
The 5-a-side format brought relentless pace and intensity to the tournament. With reduced space and constant transitions, matches demanded sharper awareness, quicker decision-making, and high technical precisionqualities Roundglass Malerkotla executed to perfection en route to the title.
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