Orissa Steelers won the Premier Hockey League title in Chandigarh on Monday night by defeating Sher-e-Jalandhar 4-3 in the deciding final, which was marred by unsavoury incidents mainly involving the losing side.
After being tied at 3-3 till the end of three quarters, skipper Dilip Tirkey gave Steelers the winning goal in the 56th minute through a penalty corner.
The victory meant Steelers won the best of three finals 2-1, the Shers having won the first match, and pocketed the winners' cheque of Rs. 40 lakh.
But the losers were not gracious in defeat as they created a ruckus over Tirkey's winner.
The Shers, including skipper Kanwalpreet Singh, Harpal Singh, Baljit Dhillon and others, rushed towards international umpire Satender Sharma, whom they manhandled and pushed around after he allowed the goal by Tirkey.
They argued that the ball was pushed by the Steelers before they were ready to take it.
Harpal immediately dropped his stick and rushed towards the umpire and was joined by others.
The uncalled-for behaviour on part of Shers happened even as Indian Hockey Federation president K P S Gill was watching from the stands.
As play remained suspended on the turf, tournament director Shakeel Qureshi along with IHF Secretary General K Jothikumaran and other officials went into a huddle to find a way out of the impasse.
Reserve umpire Suresh Kumar, who had in the meantime replaced Sharma, took the help of the video replays and awarded the goal in favour of the Steelers.
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