| Neck-and-neck final marred by last-minute controversy | ||
| OUR SPORTS CORRESPONDENT | ||
Imphal, Feb. 9: Manipur Police Sports Club (A) rode home with glory lifting the champions’ title of the 25th N. Hazari Memorial State Polo Tournament at Imphal Pologround here today. In a hard fought final, the policemen defeated District Pana Sagol Kangjei Association, Keirak, by close 5-4 goal margin. The otherwise interesting match saw a abrupt end as the game was approaching the last 49 seconds in the fourth chukker as District Pana walked off protesting the umpire’s decision of awarding a free hit to Manipur Police. Manipur Police Sports Club presented a charged up look in the first chukker itself firing home three goals to dominate the run. S. Somorjit Singh picked up two goals, while S. Bimol Singh struck home once to lead by 3-0 goals. However, in the second chukker, District Pana skipper M. Manihar Singh netted a reply and P. Ojit Singh followed his example to make in 2-3. The third chukker saw District Pana rider S. Sadananda Singh netting the equaliser. But the policemen were not pushovers and they came up with their fourth goal as Bimol Singh scored. The match reached its peak when District Pana again replied with the equalising goal through Ojit Singh. In the last and final chukker, both the teams struggled hard but Manipur Police got lucky with Bimol Singh scoring the fifth goal for his team. T he game came to an abrupt halt as the umpire ruled an improper stick intrusion against a District Pana player and awarded Manipur Police a free hit. The District Pana players protested the decision and came off the field. They told the officials that they would not play the remaining seconds and Manipur Police won the game. They took home the winners’ trophy along with a cash prize of Rs 10,000, while District Pana Sagol Kangjei Association got the runners-up title and Rs 7,000 prizemoney. |
