DHAKA, Feb 7 Defending champion Pakistan retained their gold medal in the 11th South Asian Games hockey competition when they came from behind to overpower arch-rivals India 4-3 in a penalty shootout at the Maulana Bhasani Stadium here on Sunday.

The match ended in 1-1 stalemate after regulation and extra time.

Half-back Sibtain Raza scored the match winning goal to give Pakistan their 12th gold in the regional games to the delight of his team-mates.

In the shootout, Virenderjit Singh and Dharamvir Singh both missed the strokes for India while Zeeshan Ali missed the opportunity for Pakistan. Wasif, Kashif Javed, Tasawwar Abbas and Sibtain converted their strokes.

It was also a sweet revenge by Pakistan team after they suffered a massive 1-5 loss to India in the league round.

Pakistan badly needed this win and players showed great spirit to win the final and bring glory to the country.

Pakistan were a goal down at the interval but Wasif Siddique converted a penalty corner in the 45th minute to restore the parity.

Indians enjoyed the upper hand in the first half with their better coordinated moves. They took little time in forging ahead in the sixth minute when their captain Ajitesh Rai converted his team's first short corner on an indirect drill to deceive Pakistan custodian Imran Butt.

A scuffle broke out between the two teams late in the first session and interestingly police was called in by umpires to separate the them. The incident took place in the 26th minute when India's Ragunath hit Pakistan's Zubair with his stick.

The incident saw players of both teams charging towards each other angrily.

Rival captains Pakistan's 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 because of it.

Earlier in the playoff match for bronze medal, Bangladesh defeated Sri Lanka 2-1.—APP