Birthday boy Nischal shines as Johor lifts title

IT WAS double joy for Nischal Singh as he powered Johor to a 4-1 final win over arch-rivals Singapore and took the Gurdwara Cup hockey title in the 71st Sikh Festival of Sports.

Nischal, the son of former Olympian Sarjit Singh, was also celebrating his birthday.

He scored his team’s fourth goal in the 46th minute in a thrilling final at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium to give Johor a 4-0 lead, but conceded a goal to Singapore a minute later.

“This is the perfect birthday present for me. I will remember this year’s Gurdwara Cup for the goal and for winning the Cup outright. Last year, we shared it with Kuala Lumpur,” said a beaming Nischal, who turned 17 on June 4.

Last year’s final against Kuala Lumpur in Ipoh was called off due to bad weather. Johor and Perak were joint champions in 2021.

For the record, Johor reached the Gurdwara Cup final for the fourth consecutive year.

This year’s final was especially memorable for Sarjit and his hockey-playing family from Batu Pahat: his brother Sarwan and nephew Amanraj also got their names on the scoresheet.

Amanraj scored a brace with field goals in the 11th and 22nd minutes before his father Sarwan made it 3-0 after 31 minutes.

Sarjit was delighted and said: “This is a proud moment for Johor, to be crowned champions in front of their home fans.”

Penang, skippered by Mervinder Singh, retained the A. Harbhajan Singh Trophy for the junior teams with a thumping 7-1 win over Negri Sembilan in the final.

Kuala Lumpur took third place.

The 72nd Gurdwara Cup will be held in Kuala Lumpur next year.