Inderjeet Singh Chadda netted a brilliant winner in thefourth quarter as hosts Hyderabad Sultans defeated Sher-e-Jalandhar 2-1 in theirfinal league match to win the inaugural Premier Hockey League.
For the Sultans Sameer Dad (20th) and Chadda (65th)found the mark while Deepak Thakur (49th) scored for Sher-e-Jalandhar.
The winners, who finished with 19 points to emergechampions, took home a prize money of Rs 30 lakh and the runners-up Rs 10 lakhas the inaugural edition of the event concluded at the Gachibowli.
The Sultans were followed in the points table bySher-e-Jalandhar (14), Maratha Warriors (13), Bangalore Hi Fliers (9) andChennai Veerans (5).
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The Sultans surged ahead into the lead after a barrenfirst quarter when a move from the right was taken by Wasim Ahmed who put theball in Dad's possession.
Dad dodged past two players including Baljit SinghDhillon before driving home to draw the first blood.
Jalandhar tried hard for the equaliser, which came whenThakur, after getting a cross from Didar Singh, tapped the ball in.
With the score level 1-1 and the match entering intothe last quarter, it appeared as if the fate would be decided in extra-time. ButChaddha had other plans as with just five minutes to go he slammed one past theJalandhar goalkeeper to seal the issue in favour of his side.
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Hyderabad skipper Dilip Tirkey was injured in the firstquarter and was out for the rest of the match. But his absence did not hurt thehosts much since former Pakistan captain Wasim Ahmed displayed good stick workand was brilliant in the first half..
The hosts built up some very good moves in the initialstages and they attacked in waves with Chaddha and Dad leading from the frontand Ajitesh Rai providing adequate support from the mid-field.
But the raids could yield nothing positive in the faceof some very good work by the Jalandhar deep defenders.
After the Sultans took the lead, Jalandhar stepped uptheir attack and pace and the hosts survived a scare when Prabhjot Singh triedhis reverse hit but Vikaram Pillay dived brilliantly to intercept the ballbefore custodian Ahmed Alam averted any further damage.
Jalandhar missed out on a good chance when Prabhjottook a through ball into the circle but Thakur failed to connect.
In the third quarter, short corner specialist SohailAbbas failed to convert a penalty corner, much to the disappointment of the homecrowd that cheered for the Sultans throughout the match.
Sohail, however, ended as the second highest goalscorer of the competition with seven goals, one less than Len Aiyappa of theBangalore Hi Fliers.
PTI
