The fifth Indian national championship took place in the legendary Karzoo ice hockey rink in Leh (Ladakh), located high in the Himalays, in late January 2009.
The 7 participating amateur teams were divided into two groups with two teams qualifying for the playoffs. One peculiar tie-breaking rule applied in the championship was that in case two or more teams were tied in points, the team(s) that had scored most goals would qualify for the playoffs.
This rule led to a huge controversy in the championship as three teams in Group A were tied with 4 points after the group stage. Before the last round, the Ladakh Scouts had tied the Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) Blue Team 0:0 and beaten the J&K Red Team 9:3, while the "Army" team had tied tje J&K Blue Team 1:1 and beaten the J&K team 7:0. The Ladakh Scouts thus led the group with 3 points and 9 goals for, followed by 'Army' with 3 points and 8 goals for and J&K Blue Team with 2 points and 1 goal for. In the final round, the Ladakh Scouts would face the Army team while the group stage would conclude with a game between the two J&K teams. After the goalless games between the top teams in the first rounds, the game between Ladakh Scouts and 'Army' erupted in an insane, though perhaps predictable, goal fiest and an equally predictable tie. Final result: 20:20! Funny enough, the two teams were not accused of match fixing. The result meant the J&K Blue Team, the reigning champion of the Indian Winter Games had little hope--at least on paper (!)-- to reach the playoffs as it had to score 27 goals or more against the J&K Red Team. However, anything could happen in a game between players from the same army units. As the game btween the two J&K teams progressed, the Blue Team allegedly stressed and pressure the Ted Team to allow enough goals for the Blue Team to qualify for the playoff. In the end, the Red Team had enough and left the ice in protest.
The organizing committee then called in three players from the stand who finished the game for the Red Team. As the game ended, the score was 36:19, enough for the Blue Team to qualify for the playoffs. The three teams of Group B immediately blamed the Blue Team as well as the organizing committee for match fixing and wrote a formal complaint to the Indian Olympic Association and the president of the Winter Games Federation, the bodies that formally oversee the tournament.
The Ex-Servicemen (runners-up in group B) subsequently refused to play their playoff semifinal against the J&K Blue team. The latter thus won the game 1:0 by forfeit. The other semifinal between the Indo-Tibetan Border Police ended 1:1--a more normal score in these championship. After five minutes overtime, the game went to a shooutout which the Ladakh Scouts won. The gold medal game between the Ladakh Scouts and the J&K Blue team also went to shootout after another 1:1 game. Ladakh won the shootout 2:0, and thus concluded the controversial tournament with their first Indian ice hockey championship. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police beat the Ex-Servicemen 5-1 in the bronzemedal game.
RESULTS
GROUP A
| GP | W | T | L | GF:GA | P | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. J&K Blue Team | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 37:20 | 4 |
| 2. Ladakh Scouts | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 29:23 | 4 |
| 3. Army | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 28:20 | 4 |
| 4. J&K Red Team | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 21:52 | 0 |
GROUP B
| GP | W | T | L | GF:GA | P | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Indo-Tibetan Border Police | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 19:3 | 4 |
| 2. Ex-Servicemen | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4:8 | 2 |
| 3. ISC Kargil | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4:16 | 0 |
SEMIFINALS
J&K Blue Team - Ex-Servicemen 1-0 (forfeit)
Ladakh Scouts - Indo-Tibetan Border Police 2-1 SO
BRONZEMEDAL GAME GAME
Indo-Tibetan Border Police - Ex-Servicemen 5-1
GOLD MEDAL GAME
J&K Blue Team - Ladakh Scouts 1-3 SO
