If there was a pulse of youth in the final of the inaugural Karnatak Sports Club veterans (above 40) football tournament, it beat in the hearts of the 36 men, from Tata Sports Club and Air-India, who contested the final today.Take Kalyan Sarkar of Tatas. He was nursing a minor fracture in his left hand, sustained during the semi-finals two days earlier. Bandaged, arm held up by an invisible sling, he insisted on playing, in defiance of the doctor's advice, like a school kid unwilling to miss a picnic.

Or take Mithun Sarkar of Air-India, who won the highest scorer of the tournament award from Kalyan after a coin was flipped to break a three-goal tie. A nasty bruise in his right hand, from a fall minutes before the final whistle, was not going to keephim out of action. He winced as the overworked doctor went through the tincture-spray-bandage routine, and was back in the ground before you could say Chinchpokli.

Captain of the winning Tatas side, John Alphonso, verbalised the sentiment, ``We are reliving our golden days. It is a great feeling, getting a trophy again in front of such a big crowd. For me, the camaraderie of meeting my old colleagues and opponents is a big high.''

Sentiments ran high at Karnatak ground, and almost everyone present was felicitated by the gracious hosts. Kalyan Mitra (Tatas), Shekhar Bangera (Karnatak) and Virendra Sharma (Mahindras), the three grandfathers playing in the tournament. Shivdas (Mahindras), Bandya Kakade (Tatas), Arthur Pereira (Goans), K Raman (WR) and Bhaskar Maity (RCF), the internationals who donned veterans jerseys Shivdas and Bandya were part of the 1970 Asian Games bronze medal winning squad, the last time India won a medal in football. India's best coach for 1997-98 Bimal Ghosh, who played for theair-men, and his key man Godfrey Pereira, who was present there.

The final was well fought, and it was left to a tie-breaker to provide the winner. Tatas went up 3-1 through Surinder Kumar, Dr Ganesh Rao and Clarence Robert, Sher Bahadur Khatri shooting wide for Air-India, while Bandya Kakade brought off a good save to thwart Bimal Ghosh. Though Benis Ferrao's shot was tipped over by the Air-India custodian Vijay Swamy, Melwyn Oliver made no mistake, and was soon swamped by a youthful bunch of veterans.Santan D'Souza, Sanjit Palit and Anthony Barretto converted for Air-India.

Awards

Best half: Rosario `Rosy' Fernandes (Air-India); Best defender: Diago Fernandes (Mahindras); Best forward: Camillo `Chacha' D'Silva (Tatas); Best 'keeper: Bandya Kakade (Tatas); Player of the tournament: Dr Ganesh `Ganu' Rao.