Punjab Police regain Beighton Cup after five years

Punjab Police regained the coveted Beighton Cup after a gap of five years with an emphatic 3-1 victory over Central Reserve Police Force in the final of the 107th edition of the hockey tournament in Kolkata on Thursday.

In what turned out to be a one-sided encounter, the policemen scored through Sarabjit Singh, Gabbar Singh and captain Daljit Singh.

CRPF's hopes of laying their hands on the cup were shattered yet again as they failed to counter their much stronger opponents who stuck to their game plan right through the contest.

Captain S K Vashisht scored a consolation goal in the dying minutes of the match, but the effort came much too late to bring any smiles on the CRPF players.

Punjab Police, coached by the former Indian captain Pargat Singh, turned on the heat straightaway with a series of attacks from both the flanks to keep the rival defenders on tenterhooks.

The policemen shot into the lead in the 19th minute through a brilliant field goal by the speedy Sarabjit Singh while Gabbar Singh (56th) and Daljit Singh (58th) struck in quick succession to seal the fate of their opponents.

Apart from winning the Cup for the second time in the long history of the tournament, Punjab Police also took home the winner's purse of Rs 100,000.