YUBA CITY: (CA): This town was agog with excitement this weekend, over the 2nd Vaisakhi tournament which was held on April 14th and 15th on the grounds of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara at Bouge Road. The grounds were overflowing with people.
Although fewer teams turned up, than anticipated, the field hockey was a exciting affair. San Jose Khalsa after defeating Yuba Brothers on Saturday, qualified for the final ‘on Sunday afternoon, against LA Azaad who beat Livermore.
The final between Khalsa and Azaad was played at a very fast pace. In the first half in the 10th minute Bobby Koonai of LA scored off a penalty stroke. In the 25th minute Banti Mangat equalized for KhaIsa when he shot the goal in the 3rd corner.
Deepi missed quite a few sure goals just before the half. In the second half both the teams pressed hard but, no goals resulted.
At full time the teams were locked in draw, having a goal each. Even the over time did not yield any result. The fate of the match eventually had to be decided by penalty strokes. Here the San Jose Khalsa lads did not take any chances. Jyoti, Banta, Henry and Narinder converted for them while only Bobby Kooner could score for the LA Azaad. The final score was S.J. Khalsa 6 goals and LA Azaad 2. It was a fitting victory for Khalsa but they have to plug in many holes if they want to maintain their position at the top. The umpires could have been better.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 20, 1990
