It was a battle of dragflicks and it was Jugraj Singh and his Bengal Tigers who came up on top after an epic seven-goal (all of them penalty corners) HIL 2024-25 final that swung one way then the other.
Jugraj scored a hattrick, but it was the Hyderabad Toofans who started it off with the experienced Gonzalo Peillat stepping in and thundering in a dragflick in the ninth minute. This prompted the Tigers to up the ante, and their pressure paid off when Abhishek's directness won them a PC of their own in the 25th minute. Jugraj stepped up and made no mistake. Just a minute later, though, the Tigers' counter worked its magic yet again, and from their second PC of the day, young Amandeep Lakra stepped up to smash them back into the lead.
At halftime, the experienced Bengal Tigers' coach Colin Batch said that his team needed to step up, that they had been playing at 50%, and step up they did. Exerting near incessant pressure on the Toofans' goal, Abhishek won a PC in the second minute of the second half, and there was nothing anyone could do about Jugraj thundering one into the near post again. Three minutes later, they were at it again, and this time Jugraj went to the far post, combining power and accuracy to place it between the keeper and the post-man. From 1-2 down, Jugraj's hattrick had dragged them 3-2 in front. That was his 11th goal of the tournament, making him the outright top goalscorer in the tournament.
The drama, though, was hardly over. The hard running Tim Brand won the Toofans another PC in the 39th minute, and it was Peillat's turn to switch sides and slap one in at the far post. Neither keeper nor post-man could move an inch before the ball was bouncing back out of the backboard in the goal. 3-3 and it was anyone's game at this point.
The Tigers, who'd been passive for most of the second and third quarters upped the ante, but the Toofans took their chance when it mattered. Winning a PC off a fast counter - Abhishek creating chaos in the circle with his off-the-ball movement. With Jugraj off the pitch, veteran Rupinderpal Singh and Sam Lane lined up in the double battery, and it was Lane who kept his calm to thrash it into the near post and make it 4-3 in the 54th minute.
Led by Rupinderpal -- who had returned from retirement for this final -- the Bengal Tigers held off the growing Tigers' pressure... and were crowned champions of the HIL 2024-25.
You can relive all the action from the final in our live blog, below: