Bhiwani girls win Subroto Cup title

Gaurav Kanthwal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 29

Bhiwani, which is famous for producing boxers, will now also be known for producing footballers.

Teenaged girls from a non-descript village near Bhiwani today became the Subroto Cup champions by beating some of the best soccer-playing schools of the country. Government Senior Secondary School, Alakhpura in Bhiwani district, beat Chanambam Thambou Higher Secondary School, Manipur, 5-3 in a penalty shootout in the final of the junior girls’ (U-17) category at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi.

Semifinalists in 2012, when the junior girls’ (U-17) category was introduced at the tournament, the Alakhpura girls then finished the runners-up in 2013. But this year they have gone the whole hog to win the title for the first time and become the second team from Haryana to achieve the feat. Last year, Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Mangali in Hisar district, had won the title.

Out of the four semifinalists, three were from the football-dominated north-eastern states.

The intense final remained a goalless affair in regulation time. Some good work by the defenders of both the teams meant that the strikers were kept at bay.

The Manipur side was clearly the superior side in defence as they stonewalled the Haryana team’s efforts from the right flank. The Alakhpura girls were good in defence and midfield but lacked in finishing. Bagaria, their lone striker, did not get enough balls in the first half. The Alakhpura girls were aggressive and wanted to score early but the Manipur girls thwarted their every move. Defenders Sweety Devi and Icchan Devi were the standout performers for the runners-up.

Had the Manipur team’s striker, Kashmina, not missed an easy chance in the last five minutes of regulation time, the result would have been different. The teams failed to break the deadlock in the extra-time as well and the match was decided via a penalty shootout.

For Haryana, Ravina Yadav, Samiksha Jakhar, Sheetal, Sharda Jakhar and captain Nisha Bagaria scored. Manipur’s Sweety scored the first goal but Ranjita Devi’s shot missed the goalpost. Roza Devi and Kashmina scored, keeping their team’s hopes alive.

The responsibility of taking the final penalty fell on India player Bagaria. Being the most prolific scorer of the tournament, Bagaria was marked for the whole duration of the match. But the captain, playing in her third Subroto Cup, showed her mettle and converted the penalty to help her team record a memorable win. Bagaria was named the player of the tournament and was awarded a cash prize of Rs50,000.

Raveena Yadav and Samiksha Jakhar of the Alakhpura team were awarded Rs25,000 as scholarship. The winners received a prize purse of Rs3.50 lakh, while the Manipur team received Rs2 lakh.

Awards  

Best player: Nisha Bagaria (18 goals) 

Best coach: Sonika Bijarnia (Haryana team)