India secured their 9th title of SAFF championships beating Wester Asian nation Kuwait in an exciting penalty by 5-4 goals during the final match of the ongoing 2023 Bangabandhu SAFF Championship at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru Tuesday night.

After five rounds of penalty kicks the scoreline tied at 4-4, so the match went on sudden death rule. India's Mahesh Naorem scored and goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu saved Khaled Hajiah’s shot to hand victory the hosts.

Earlier, the match was tied at 1-1 in the first half; both sides failed to break the deadlock in the stipulated 90-minute as well as in the 30-minute extra time.

Forward Shabaib Al-Khaldi scored for Kuwait in the 14th minute but forward Lallianzuala Chhangte helped India to return to the match with an equalizer in the 38th minute.

Kuwait got the lead when Albloushi crossed for Al-khaldi on a cut-back. Al-khaldi was unmarked and shot into the net.

Indian captain Sunil Chhetri sent a through pass to Sahal who crossed for Chhangte to slot it in for the equalizer.

However, India’s head coach Igor Stimac wasn’t present in the dugout as he had a two-match suspension due to having a red card in their last match against Kuwait.

Meanwhile, hosts India, who are the most successful team in the regional competition, maintained their domination having won the tournament nine times out of the 14 editions.

 On the other side, Kuwait, one of the two guest teams in the ongoing SAFF, featured in the tournament for the first time and also stormed into the final.