DHAKA Defending champions Pakistan retained their gold medal in the 11th South Asian Games hockey competition when they came from behind to overpower arch-rival India 4-3 in a penalty shootout at Maulana Bhasani Stadium on Sunday.
The match ended in 1-1 stalemate in regulation and extra time and had to be decided in a shootout.
Half-back and captain Sibtain Raza scored the match winning goal to give Pakistan their 12th gold in the regional games to the delight of his team-mates, APP reported.
In the shoot-out, Virenderjit Singh and Dharamvir Singh both missed the strokes for India while Zeeshan Ali missed the opportunity for Pakistan. Wasif, Kashif Javed, Tasawar Abbas and Sibtain converted their strokes.
It was sweet revenge by Pakistan after they suffered a massive 1-5 loss to India in the league rounds.
Pakistan badly needed this win and players showed great spirit to win the final and bring glory for the country.
Pakistan was a goal down at the break but penalty corner specialist Wasif Siddique converted a penalty corner in the 45th minute to restore the parity to the delight of their vociferous local supporters.
Indians enjoyed the upper hand in the first half with better coordinated moves. They took little time in forging ahead, captain Ajitesh Rai converting his teams first short corner on an indirect drill that deceived Pakistan custodian Imran Butt in the sixth minute.
A scuffle broke out between the two team late in the first session and interestingly the local police was called in by umpires to separate the two teams. The incident took place in the 26th minute when Indias Ragunath hit Pakistans Zubair with a stick.
The incident saw players of both teams charging towards each other.
The captains of the two teams Pakistans Sibtain Raza and Ajitesh Rai of India were sent off as a punishment for failing to control their players. The match was halted for about seven minutes due to the incident.
Earlier in the playoff for bronze medal, Bangladesh defeated Sri Lanka 2-1.
At one point the Sri Lankans were so upset with an umpiring decision they threatened to abandon the match but were persuaded to carry on by their team officials.
