Teams at the throwball championship at Patna Women’s College on Tuesday. Picture by Ashok Sinha

Patna, Feb. 15: Sports is a good thing to be in love with. But the players of Patna Women’s College Team (A) — the winners of the 9th Valentine’s Day Throwball Championship — have more reasons to be in love with sports.

In a nail-biting finish, they came from behind and startled their opponents Kendriya Vidyalaya, Bailey Road Team (A). The Patna Women’s College team won despite losing the first set 10-15. But in the second and third sets, they surged ahead — the score line in both the sets read 15-7.

The first set, however, was more exciting. It took almost 45 minutes to complete, with neither team conceding a point without a fight.

“Winning a game gives a different high. All of us in the team are experiencing it. We still cannot believe that we have won the championship,” said Neha Singh, the captain of the winning team.

She added: “We believe that what we have achieved today is the result of the hard work that all of us have put in the past 11 days. Of course, the contribution of our coach has been enormous.”

Kendriya Vidyalaya, Kankerbagh Team (A) clinched the third spot.

Neeraj Kumar, the secretary of the Throwball Association of Bihar, told The Telegraph: “The USP of the game are the restrictions under which a player has to perform. The game is not only a test of physical strength of a player but also of his or her concentration.”

He added: “We have won the national throwball championship five times in a row. But there is hardly any government aid for this sport. College and school-level competitions are keeping the sport alive in the state.”

The semi-finals, too, were an edge-of-the-seat experience. Patna Women’s College (A) defeated Kendriya Vidyalaya Kankerbagh (A), in straight sets. In the second semi-final, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Bailey Road (A) defeated Kendriya Vidyalaya, Bailey Road (B) comfortably with margins of 15-0 and 15-3 in the two sets.

Soni Verma, captain of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Bailey Road Team (A), was given the best player award and Neha Singh of PWC (A) was awarded for being the highest scorer.

Patna Women’s College principal Doris D’Souza and Zenith Commerce Academy director Sunil Singh gave away the prizes.

“I am glad our coach made us work so hard. Thank god we worked on the technical details. At least we were able to come third,” said a team member of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Kankerbagh (A) team.

The spectators too had a great time and seeped in the exciting atmosphere. “I did not know much about the game. But I have started loving it after following the games in the tournament,” said Anuj Bothra, a spectator.