Indian Army finished first with nine gold, five silver and three bronze medals in the first-ever regional army sports meet organized by Nepal Army at its newly built Physical Training and Sports Centre on the premises of the Rajdal Batallion, Lalitpur.[break]
Pakistan Army won four golds, five silvers and four bronzes to secure the second position while Nepal Army settled for the third position winning three golds, two silvers and six bronzes.
On Wednesday, the final day of the sports meet, Nepal Army defeated Indian Army 1-0 to end the tournament on a high note.
Despite dominating the game, Nepal Army had to wait till the 79th minute to break the deadlock, when Hiranya Magar converted a wonderful left footed freekick into goal.
Nepal Army had made a bright start in the game, controlling possession, but was dogged by the same problem faced by the national squad -- failure to score.
Raju Tamang had the best opportunity to give the lead to Nepal in the 26th minute but his powerful shot from the right flank was saved by Indian Army´s goalkeeper AK Balwant. Hari Mahato failed to score the rebound and Navayug Shrestha then hit the ball above the bar.
Indian Army appeared weak in the first half with only some feeble shots at the post but it made a strong start after the break. Arjun Tudu, Thiyagarajan and Sanjay Rana all looked threatening but lacked the cutting edge.
Navayug Shrestha missed a one-versus-one chance in the 48th minute. Second half substitute Amrit Basnet had provided a pass to Shrestha, who raced with the ball ahead of Indian defenders but shot it wide with only the keeper to beat.
Three minutes later, Santosh Nepali was in a similar situation during a counter attack but he too failed to score. With time running out, players of Nepal Army missed other good opportunities until they got a freekick in the 79th minute after Thiyagarajan brought down Tek Bahadur Budhathoki in the right flank.
Magar shot the freekick straight toward the post as it curled above India´s goalkeeper Balwant into the net leaving the home crowd in frenzy.
Sri Lanka settled for bronze medal in football.
Meanwhile, in the final of volleyball event, Indian Army defeated Pakistan Army 25-22, 25-23, 19-25, 25-19.
Altogether, army teams of five countries -- India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the host Nepal -- had participated in the sports meet organized with the aim of fostering ties among the armies of south Asian countries through the medium of sports.
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