Jalandhar (Punjab) [India], September 27 : Sports Authority of India National Centre of Excellence, Sonipat, edged past Naval Tata Hockey Academy 4-3 in a thrilling final of the second edition of the Punjab Hockey League (U 21), which was played here at the Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium on Saturday.
Roundglass Hockey Academy beat PIS Surjit Hockey Academy, Jalandhar, 4-3 in another seven-goal thriller to secure third place, as per a press release from Punjab Hockey League.
Chief Minister of Punjab, Bhagwant Singh Mann, gave away the prizes to the winners. An All Stars XI led by Indian skipper Harmanpreet Singh played an exhibition match against Legends XI, which was led by Baljit Singh, before the finals, with the former winning the match 4-0.
SAI Sonipat cruised to a 2-0 lead in the 12th minute through goals from Ankush and Mithilesh Yadav. Naval Tata halved the deficit three minutes later through a penalty stroke conversion by Ashish Tani Purti and went on to level the scores in the 21st minute after Patras Hassa converted a penalty corner. SAI retook the lead in the 27th minute, scored by Nitin. Patras Hassa scored his second goal of the final to make the score 3-3 in the 34th minute. The decisive goal for SAI Sonipat came five minutes from time in the last quarter when Neeraj put the final touch to a well-worked team goal to give his team the lead and the title.
Earlier in the day, defending champions Roundglass Hockey Academy secured third place with a 4-3 win over PIS Surjit Hockey Academy. Japnit Singh scored a hat trick for the winners, while Gursewak Singh scored the other goal for the hosts. Manmeet Singh Rai, Manroop Singh and Harmolbir Singh scored for the side from Jalandhar.
Ashish Tani Purti of Naval Tata Hockey Academy was adjudged the Player of the Tournament, while Jeevan Singh of Roundglass Hockey Academy was declared the Best Goalkeeper.
SAI Sonipat also received Rs 15 Lakhs, while the runners-up Naval Tata received INR 10 Lakhs. Roundglass Hockey Academy received INR 3 lakhs for their third-place finish.
Punjab Hockey League is organised jointly by Roundglass Hockey Academy and Hockey Punjab, aims to provide extensive match exposure to players from the grassroots level and contribute meaningfully to their professional and personal development.
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