Lucknow, May 25 (UNI) Defending champions India beat former runners-up Bangladesh at 29-16 goals in the final encounter to complete a hat-trick of the South Asian Handball (women) Championship in its third edition which concluded here today.
Indian girls entered the court with a resolve to complete the hat-trick and successfully defended the title.
Prior to this India lifted the title in 1996 and 2000 against the same rivals- Bangladesh- and it was the third consequtive win.
For the champions Purnima Tokas(8), Madhvi (5), Sandhya (3), Anita (3) and Ridhika (2) were the main scorer while for Bangladesh K Shiela (5), Maina Begum (4) were the main scorers.
Prior to this the hard line match for the third place was played between Pakistan and Nepal and the former won at 15-1 in a one sided affair.
Pakistan girls also retained their third place.
Fromer Union minister Akhilesh Das gave away trophies and for the first time cash prizes were also given. The winners - India - got a cash prize of Rs 25,000, runners-up Bangladesh got a purse of Rs 15,000 and Pakistan pocketed Rs 10,000.
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