Rourkela, Dec. 6: The first Intercity Gold Cup hockey tournament came to an end at the Panposh Hockey Academy complex today evening. The host team lifted the trophy in a closely-contested match.
The final match took place between Panposh Sports Hostel and SAIL Hockey Academy. Both the teams produced high-class hockey, which included both artistry and speed.
The match in the professional category saw nail-biting moments till the final goal at sudden death. Pratap Lakra of Panposh scored the all-important goal, displaying the winning team's exemplary show.
The whole 90 minutes witnessed a ding-dong battle with both the teams tied at 3-3. The sports hostel team clinched the lead three times and SAIL Academy equalised it.
The penalty shoot-out was played in accordance with international rules, where the shooter would dribble forward the ball from the defence (D) line and the goalkeeper would charge ahead. The goal had to be scored within 8 seconds. The SAIL Academy failed to score in the first three attempts, while the sports hostel scored in their second and third attempt. However, SAIL again drew parity by scoring the last two goals.
The score line stood at 5-5 that led to sudden death.
The SAIL team missed their sole opportunity while PSH's Lakra drew the last blood by bulging the ball inside the net. "This is one of the finest moments of my life and I will remember this for a very long time," said Lakra.
The morning also witnessed a good tussle in the rural category. The team from Kahuapani defeated the Dhadibahal by a margin of 3-2.
The winning team got a cheque of Rs 15,555 while the runner-up got Rs 11,111. There were two other teams in the rural category. The Kakuda team defeated Jaketa for the third spot and took away a prize money of Rs 5,555 while fourth positioned team bagged Rs 3,333.
Anand Kiro of Kahuapani was declared the best player of the tournament in the rural category. The man of the match award went to Dipu Kujur of Dhadibahal while the best goalkeeper award went to Abhishek Horo of Kakuda. They received carbon fibre hockey sticks for their stellar performance.
In the professional category, Suraj Minz of Panposh was declared player of the tournament and the man of the match award went to Rayadan Kiro. Ravi Rajput of SAIL Academy was declared the best goalkeeper.
International player Victor Minz, who along with four others conceptualised the tournament, said: "The whole purpose of the tournament is to create an interface between those playing at the rural level and those playing in the academies. The players from the rural areas must come and see and have a taste of the turf, international rules and other changes in the game."
Minz also said that a similar tournament would be organised for girls in January.
