The Tribhuvan Army Club has won the title of the 'First Mustang Bhadrapur-Jhapa Gold Cup' football tournament held at the local Mechi Stadium.
In the final match today, the departmental team of the Nepal Army lifted the title defeating Machchhindra Football Club by 4-3 in a tie-breaker. The game was decided through the tie-breaker after the match ended in a goalless draw in the regular 90 minutes and extra time.
Goalkeeper Samit Shrestha saved the shots from Rejin Dhimal and Devendra Tamang of Machchhindra in the tie-breaker. Machchhindra's goalkeeper Bishal Shrestha had also saved the kick of Sesehang Angdambe of the Tribhuvan Army Club.
In the tie-breaker, Army's Deependra Karki, Santosh KC, Ripu Bhulal and Sushant Chaudhary scored while Machchhindra's Deewakar Chaudhary, Sujal Shrestha and Dipesh Ghale were successful in the penalty shootout.
With the win, the Army has won the gold cup and a cash prize of Rs 1.3 million. Runner-up Machchhindra received a cash prize of Rs 700,000.
Army's goalkeeper Samit Shrestha was announced the best goalkeeper while Machchhindra's Saurabh Rai won the title of emerging player and Army's Raju Tamang won the best coach award in the tournament. Machchhindra's captain Sujal Srestha won the best player of the tournament and bagged a cash prize of Rs 100,000.
Parliamentarian from Jhapa-1 and Nepali Congress general-secretary Biswo Prakash Sharma gave away the awards to the winner and the runner-up.
The tournament hosts also honored former footballer Gambhir Rai of Chandragadhi, Bhadrapur with the 'lifetime achievement award' that included a TVS motorbike.
