Amritsar pip hosts Ludhiana to clinch baseball trophy

Our Sports Correspondent

Ludhiana, October 20

Amritsar survived a scare against hosts Ludhiana before wrapping up the final to lift the trophy in the 14th Senior Punjab State Baseball Championship for Men held at the Mata Gurdev Kaur Memorial Shahi Sports College of Physical Education, Samrala near here on Sunday.

The final turned out to be well-contested affair as players of both teams went all out to upstage their opponents. However, the visitors came out triumphant 2-0 to lay their hands on the winners’ trophy.

Labhpreet Singh and Rohan played exceedingly well, chipping in with apiece each and steered Amritsar to clinch the title.

Earlier, in the day, in the quarterfinals, Ludhiana survived some anxious moments before coming out victorious 6-5 against Ferozepur; Amritsar overwhelmed Patiala 7-0; Kapurthala thrashed Fatehgarh Sahib 11-1 and Moga outperformed Jalandhar 4-2 to secure berths in the semifinals.

In the semifinals, Ludhiana got the better of Moga 2-0 with skipper Ravi Dutt and Gurpreet Singh scoring one run each while Amritsar prevailed over Kapurthala 2-1. Ajay and Sandeep accounted for one run each for the winning side.

In the match to decide the third position, Moga warded off strong challenge from Kapurthala before winning it 1-0 to bag the bronze medal. Harpreet was the lone scorer for Moga.

Gurvir Singh Shahi, Managing Director, Shahi Sports College; and Sukhdev Singh Aulakh, secretary, Punjab Baseball Association, distributed the prizes among the winners.

Harbir Singh Gill, President, Ludhiana District Baseball Association, besides Gurdeep Singh, Rahul Pathak, Amarjit Singh, Jatinder Thakur and Baldev Singh were present on this occasion.