(Football) India win Challenge Cup

Sunil Chettri was India's hero as the forward fired a hattrick to help the hosts lift the AFC Challenge Cup with a crushing 4-1 victory over defending champions Tajikistan in the final at Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi yesterday.

Three goals in the opening 22 minutes swept Tajikistan, who won the inaugural Challenge Cup in Dhaka in 2006, away with Chettri finding the back of the net either side of a Baichung Bhutia strike before the former completed his treble with 16 minutes remaining.

Fatkhullo Fatkhuloev reduced the arrears in the first-half for Pulod Kodirov's side but it proved merely a consolation effort.

The result also sees Bob Houghton's side book their place in the 2011 Asian Cup as automatic qualifiers, their first appearance in the continent's showpiece tournament since 1984.

Captain Bhutia was adjudged the most valuable player of the eight-team finals. Apart from the final and the third-place play-off, all matches were played in Hyderabad but the venue was shifted to the capital due to incessant rain.

Earlier on the day, tournament top-scorer Pak Song-chol netted a first-half hattrick to steer DPR Korea to an emphatic 4-0 victory over Myanmar as the East Asians claimed third place.

Pak took his individual tally to six goals with two early freekicks and a 43rd minute penalty, awarded after Han Win Aung felled So Kwang-chol in the area.

Han's poor tackle resulted in his second yellow card from UAE referee Khalid Jassim Al Senan and left Myanmar having to play out the remainder of the match with ten men.

Myanmar had started brightly enough but their hopes quickly faded after Pak struck twice in the space of two minutes.

Pak claimed his first in the ninth minute when Pak Chol-min was brought down just outside the area and the forward curled a freekick around the wall and beyond Myanmar's second choice keeper Kyaw Zin Htet.

Two minutes later, Pak doubled the lead, this time with another neatly struck freekick from the right of the area that eluded a host of defenders before finding the back of the net.

The Koreans continued to threaten throughout the first period, Pak missing out on a third goal by a whisker when he shot just over from close range in the 21st minute.

Ri Kwang-hyok's angled header from So's cross also flew narrowly wide before Pak did eventually claim his treble from the spot after So was felled in the area and Han subsequently received his marching orders.

Ro then headed home from close range seven minutes after the break as Myanmar continued to leak goals but Pak was denied a fourth goal two minutes from time when another penalty was stopped by Kyaw.