CUTTACK 10-Aug-2017
Manipur achieved a hat-trick by winning the title for the third successive year in the Junior Girls National Football Championship here at Barabati Stadium today. The defending champions edged out host Odisha in the final by 3-2 goals.
A Roja Devi struck twice and T Kritina Devi scored once for Manipur, while Suman Prgyan Mohapatra netted once for Odisha. Manipur conceded a self goal in this hard-fought match.
Earlier in the semifinals, Odisha blanked West Bengal 3-0, while Manipur edge out Delhi 2-1. Odisha cruised into semifinals beating Maharashtra 4-1 in the first quarterfinal. The host team won both of their Group-H league matches to qualify for the quarterfinals. Odisha started their campaign on a sparkling note, hammering Himachal Pradesh 7-0 at Odisha Police Ground and then routed Gujarat 5-1.
Football Association of Odisha (FAO) president Debashish Samantaray , Odisha Athletic Association secretary Asirbad Behera, AIFF assistant manager Sapna handed over the trophy and prizes in the presence of FAO secretary Sanjay Behera.
In the closing function, FAO elicitated the four Odisha players with cash incentive of Rs 10,000 each for representing India in women’s international friendly against Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur recently. Former India women’s football team captain and national selector O Bembem Devi was also felicitated. FAO announced a cash prize of Rs 5,000 each for players, coach, manager and support staff of Junior Girls NFC runners-up Odisha team.
