The dramatic turn of events was a culmination of the overage row in which both teams were caught in. The tournament organisers, suspecting foul play, had independently sought proof-of-age letters from the schools of certain players. One YMCA and one NNH player each were found four years overage.

A press release issued by the technical committee stated that repeated requests to submit the age certificates of players had been ignored by the NNH players. Organising secretary MO Verghese said, ``On a friendly basis, we allowed them to play the initial rounds as they promised to give the certificates the following day.It is an organisational lapse...maybe we should not have waited till the final.''

Earlier, Agardneya Vyayamshala, Dombivli, easily defeated Indian Gymkhana in the mini girls' final to keep their record of an undefeated run this year intact. Agradneya had defeated the same side 64-2 in the semi-final of the state championship. Today's 35-8 win was less emphatic. Coach Milind Apte said, ``We took the opportunity to play out younger players.''

Results

Girls' under-13 final: Agradneya 35 (Deepali Bhise 10, Madhura Bodas 6) bt Indian Gymkhana 8 (HT 27-4).

Men: Greater Mumbai Police A 59 (Noor Mohammed 13, Anwar Memon 12, Gopichand Khemkar 11, Rajendra Kalbar 13) bt New Bombay YMCA 44 (Gurvinder Singh 19, Prashani Sawant 10) HT: 19-27.