Services lift Santosh Trophy title

Ludhiana: Services won their sixth Santosh Trophy title with a 1-0 victory over home side Punjab, thanks to a second-half strike by Bikash Thapa at the Guru Nanak Stadium here Sunday. With this victory, the side has ended the campaign without losing a single match. Incidentally, the last time Services played in the Santosh Trophy final was in 2015, at the same venue and against the same opposition, a match that they won 5-4 on penalties after it ended 0-0 post extra time. It was a somewhat slow start to the game as both the sides looked to measure each other up before committing themselves. Home side Punjab had more initiative during the opening exchanges, managing to get a few shots on goal. However, as the match wore on, Services started to gain more composure and built their own articulate attacksg. (PTI)