Bangabandhu, Bangamata Gold Cups: Barisal, Khulna clinch titles

Barisal division won the title of Bangabandhu National Gold Cup (u-17) football tournament while Khulna division won the title of Bangamata National Gold Cup (u-17) football tournament yesterday. Both the finals were held at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as the chief guest. The PM later handed over the prizes to the teams and award winners.

In the boys’ event, Barisal earned a 2-1 victory over Chattogram division in extra time. After a barren first half, Tawhidul gave Chattogram the lead in the 48th minute but Rashedul equalised for Barisal in the 66th minute. The match rolled into extra time where Rabbi of Barisal snatched the winner in the 101th minute with a superb effort. The Barisal forward saw the opposition goalkeeper out of his position and picked the back of the net with a long-range effort from close to the centre circle.

Rabbi was adjudged as the man of the final as well as the top scorer of the tournament while Saiful Islam of the same team was adjudged as the player of the tournament.

Meanwhile, the final of Bangamata National Gold Cup (u-17) football tournament proved to be a seesaw affair. Rawshan Jahan gave Dhaka division an 11th-minute lead but Kurshia Jannath equalised for Khulna six minutes later. Unnoti Khatun gave Khulna the lead in the 45th minute but Sadia equalised 10 minutes after restart. There were no more goals in regulation and extra time before Khulna won the match 4-3 in tiebreaker.

Swarna Rani Mondol of Khulna was adjudged as the player of the final while Unnoti Khatun of the same team took both the top-scorer and player of the tournament awards.