Post-match fracas lands Kurukshetra girls in trouble

LUCKNOW/CHANDIGARH: Women hockey players from Kurukshetra University (KU) and Lucknow University (LU) clashed after the final of the North Zone inter-university hockey tournament that was played at the Lucknow University ground on Monday.
Seconds after the match got over -in which LU defeated KU by a narrow 2-1 margin -exaggerated celebrations by the home team didn't go down too well with KU girls. A brawl ensued and the KU players allegedly assaulted the two officiating umpires.In a written complaint (a copy of which is with TOI) to the tournament organising secretary against six KU players, umpire Rishi Kumar alleged that KU players challenged his decision and abused him and his co-umpire Sumit Kumar Pal. Kumar also said that the players manhandled them. The six KU players in the dock are team captain Bharti Sharma, Shilpa, Kavita Rani Deepti, Neha Sharma and Paramjit.
Giving their side of the story , Bharti accused the umpires of cheating and favouring the LU team. " After the match, Aditi Bura and I walked up to the umpires to tell them that they had been unfair and partial to the LU team. He pushed us and said, 'Hum UP ke hain' (we belong to UP). We had simply objected to this bad gesture of touching me," Bharti told TOI.
"The umpires also told us in a mocking manner that they were following the principle of 'jiski field, uski shield'. Why would they give us the medals if we were so grossly wrong?" she questioned.
Bharti went on to add that members from the opposition team started threatening them before the police reached the ground. "We didn't hit anyone. In fact, our coach rebuked us for challenging the decision of the umpires,'' she said. Dalel Singh, the director sports of KU, termed the accusation as a desperate attempt of LU to cover up their "criminal wrongs".