New Delhi, July 1: An inspired Border Security Force overcame the odds to clinch the 29th Junior National hockey title, edging out aspirants Air-India 6-4 in the tie-breaker at the National Stadium here. The teams were locked 1-1 in regulation period and then extra period.After having taken the lead, Air-India's luck deserted them when Amit Gupta's attempt in the shootout deflected away. That proved decisive even though Sanjay Kumar, Inder Singh and Ankit Gupta found the target for Air-India. On the other hand, Harbhajan Singh, Baljinder Singh, Satnam Singh, W Bismabir Singh and Peter Tirkey directed their hits cleverly to help BSF win the tie-breaker 5-3. With both teams equally matched, the match was open till almost the end. Yet the hockey was far below the standards either team had displayed in the tournament so far. The reason was obvious neither wanted to give the other any openings and also to avoid injuries and cards. As a result, the first half, despite Air-India's goal, was largely dull.BSF, who had four players from their senior outfit Christopher Ekka, Satnam Singh, Peter Tirkey and captain Harbhajan Singh were a confident lot.Air-India enjoyed some superiority in the first half when their star striker Gagan Ajit Singh found the target during a move in the 16th minute. After being fed by Ankit Gupta, Gagan shot but BSF goalkeeper dived to stop and in the melee Gagan fell. But he quickly got up and scooped the ball into the net to give Air-India a 1-0 lead.Rishi Patel, Rajesh Chauhan, Sanjay Kumar and Manoj Ekka played a great game and kept the pressure on BSF time and again. Gagan Ajit Singh too made a few attempts but he was heavily marked, especially by his own cousin Manmeet Singh playing for BSF.The teams increased the pace increased in the second half. BSF, who had missed four penalty corners, made no mistake with the fifth with Manmeet Singh converting it. The equaliser helped in lifting BSF's sagging morale.The turning point of the match came soon after the equaliser when, in a fight for the ball, BSF's Jagbir Singh was accidentally hit by Air-India skipper Rajesh Chauhan and had to be stretchered out. Though play had been smooth thus far, BSF were enraged and protested. Play was disrupted for nearly 10 minutes.Better sense prevailed as the players returned to the field. Umpire Shakeel Qureshi flashed the tournament's only red card to Rajesh Chauhan. BSF's Satnam Singh was shown the yellow card.Reduced to ten players, Air-India fell back to strengthen their defence. Air-India held on even as BSF launched raids after raids. After the scoreless extra time, the match headed for a tie-breaker.BSF's elated coach Kuljit Singh promptly gave the credit to his defenders for the victory. He was happy that the team with just seven days of camp had put up a great show.Earlier, defending champions Delhi finished third beating Punjab and Sind Bank 4-3. Captain Mahesh Kumar Rawat scored two goals while Deepak and Virender scored a goal each in the Delhi's win. Rajinder Singh and Sandeep Singh were the scorers for PSB.
