U-17 Hockey: Bahawalpur dethrone Toba Tek Singh
It was preceded by 3-3 in regulation time. The teams were tied 4-4 in the first penalty shootouts and 3-3 in the second.
The match was marred by controversies due to lack of organization.
The defeat denied Toba Tek Singh a hat trick of title wins.
When the teams drew 3-3 at the end of regulation time, they were awarded five penalty-strokes each, but it raised a controversy when the secretary sports Punjab, intervened and requested that instead, an extra time of 15 minutes should be awarded to the teams.
However, Toba Tek Singh refused to accept the change.
Mohammad Shahbaz, who was hero for Toba Tek Singh during the entire championship and was also adjudged Man-of-the-Championship for scoring 18 goals, including two in the final, faltered completely in penalty-shoots.
Toba Tek Singh grabbed the lead in the 15th minute when Shahbaz scored a field goal.
Bahawalpur restored the parity through Umar three minutes later.
Bahawalpur went ahead 2-1 in the 24th minute through Rizwan Khan who converted the first short-corner off a direct try.
Shahbaz again came to rescue Toba Tek Singh scoring a field goal in the 26th minute.
The losers, regained the lead 3-2 in the 29th minute when Muhammad Irfan capitalised on a penalty stroke. The lead remained intact till half-time.
After resumption the winners pumped in the equalizer through Khurram Shahzad, who was declared Man-of-the-Final, in the 47th minute. He scored a field goal to make it 3-3.
Shahbaz received Rs10,000 as Man-of-the-Championship. Khurram pocketed Rs5,000. Bahawalpur got a trophy and a cash prize of Rs40,000.
The runners-up also received a trophy and a cash prize of Rs30,000.
Earlier, Sargodha finished third, beating Vehari 2-0. Muhammad Fayyaz and Muhammad Arshad scored a goal each. Sargodha were awarded a cash prize of Rs20,000.