Khadka steers MPC to title

By Purushottam Kattel

DHARAN, Dec 29 – A fag end strike by Hari Khadka saw Mahendra Police Club (MPC) clinch the 4th Budha Subba Gold Cup football title defeating Dharan (Red) 1-0 in the final played on Saturday.

The sensational final witnessed by more than 10,000 spectators proved to be one of the best
finals of Budha Subba Cup
football held at the Dharan Stadium so far. With the win, MPC became the only team to win the tournament twice in four years. Last time, they were downed by Bangladesh’s Dhanmundi Club in the final.

The match seemed to head for the sudden death period as both the keepers preformed brilliantly under the bar saving some breathtaking shots. But it  was Khadka, who finally broke the ice for the police team connecting a brilliant header  in the 77th minute. All the matches of the tournament are being played in 80-minute regulation time. MPC frontline player Ramesh Budathoki provided a well-measured pass from the right wing only to see Dharan goalie Ritesh Thapa making a desperate dive to let the ball just before Khadka who took no chances and quickly headed it into the opposition net.

Although against a star studded team, the local boys posted a huge challenge to MPC players, especially after the  break. Sanjiv Joshi – goalkeeper of MPC demonstrated a couple of good saves against the powerful strikes of Dilli Ram Shrestha. But, had there not been Thapa with radiant reflection, Dharan would have lost the match by a big margin. Thapa, stopping almost all the strikes from the police team, was declared man of the match.

MPC remained dominant in the first half as Dev Narayan Chaudhary’s header, Budathoki’s accurate free kick and Khadka’s curling 30-yarder were well gathered by Thapa. But in the first quarter of the second half, the local boys put a tremendous pressure on the visitors but without any success. The locals could not level the scores as only three minutes were remaining after Khadka found the net.

My boys played according to the game plan," said Yogumber Suwal, the MPC coach. 
"We got the lead late, but it was worth it."

Khadka, scoring the maximum number of goals in the tournament, bagged the top scorer’s trophy along with a cash prize of Rs 10,000. He was also declared man of the series which further carried the purse of Rs 10,000. Besides, the winning team received a cash prize of Rs 25,000 while the runners-up got 15,000. Ganesh Thapa, president of the FIFA and AFC affiliated All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) handed over the trophy and certificates to the players and officials. The 12-day long tournament, organised by Dharan Football Club, was sponsored by Tuborg beer and Mayos Noodles. A total of 12 teams including one from India competed at the tournament.

Paras tweaks MCC to victory

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Dec 29 – Left arm spinner Paras Luniya’s 5-wicket haul helped Mahavir Cricket Club (MCC) humble Sarlahi by 115 runs in the pre quarter-final match of the 3rd East West BDM Open cricket tournament on Saturday.

Luniya had a memorable outing in the matting wicket of Tundikhel as he send half of the Sarlahi team back to the pavilion giving away a miserly 16 runs in his 7-over spell. Apart from taking wickets, the left arm spinner also provided the much needed thrust to the Mahavir innings during the later stages scoring a quickfire 27 runs off mere 20 balls. Luniya was declared man of the match for his performance on the day.

Mahavir’s decision to bat hardly seem to be going right as they lost opener Paresh Lohani (5) with just nine runs on the board. Mahavir, at one point were reeling at 111 for six but useful contributions from Akhilesh Khandelwal (24) and Kiran Rana (21) lifted the score to 215 for eight in the allotted 35 overs.

Rohit Sharma, the highest scorer of the innings, scored a brilliant half century in just 45 balls. He flayed the Sarlahi bowlers all round the park with six boundaries and three sixes during his stay. Apart from Luniya, Ganesh Shahi also used the long handle to good effect coming home with 20 runs in 13 balls.

For Sarlahi, Kumar Thapa and Raju KC took two wickets each while Kunal Jaiswal and Sagar Giri took one wicket apiece. The Sarlahi bowlers hardly showed any discipline in bowling as they conceded a total of 36 extras.

With a victory target of 216 in 33 overs (Two overs from Sarlahi innings were deducted due to their slow over rate), Sarlahi batsmen never looked in contention of the victory. The only saving grace for them was that they did not lose all their wickets. Sarlahi scored 100 runs for the loss of nine wickets in 33 overs.

The only Sarlahi batsman who played the bowlers with some degree of authority was Raju KC, who topscored with 30 unbeaten runs. Subash Thapa (11) was the only other batsman with double figures.

Besides Luniya, skipper Kiran Rana bowled well to return with two wickets for 12 runs in 6 overs. He bowled a total of four maiden overs in his miserly spell. Apart from these two, other MCC bowlers were far from good in their performance. A total of 39 extras were given away in Sarlahi innings.