Nagpur champs, deny hosts Pune in tie-breaker
Pune, 20 December 2022: Nagpur emerged champions downing hosts Pune to lift the Western India Football Association (WIFA) Inter District Men’s (Open) Football Tournament 2022 title at the Shiv Chhatrapathi Sports Complex, Mhalunge-Balewadi, on Tuesday.
The tournament hosted by the Poona District Football Association (PDFA) had the hosts go down after a pulsating final which ended 1-1 in regulation time, before Nagpur pushed home by logging a 4-2 victory.
Playing in front of a partisan crowd, home favorites Pune did well to push Nagpur but eventually the first half was a matter of so close yet so far and ended 0-0.
Two minutes after resumption and much to the disappointment of the home crowd Nagpur took the lead when Sufiyan Shaikh (47th) scored.
Down by a goal Pune pushed hard to pulled themselves back before their efforts were rewarded deep into the second half via an ‘own goal’ scored by Mohammed Shabab (62nd). A cross from the left by Pune resulted in Sudeesh M glancing his header goalward, which went off Mohammed Shabab beating goalkeeper Owasis Khan to make it 1-1.
With the score ending 1-1, the game went into the tie-breaker.
Nagpur had Stanley Peter, Sagar Chintala, Nirmal Munnda, Sufiyan Sheikh gain success from the spot, while Pune could convert only two via Jeevan Rawat, Shubham Pednekar. The hosts were unfortunate as Harshad Gawande and Ayush Deepak missed their attempts.
Later, the prizes were given away by Girish Mujumdar, Vice President Dhruva Data Solutions and Sudhir Hiremat IPS, DIG Crime PID Pune. Also present were, WIFA Treasurer and PDFA Vice President, Pyarelal Choudhary and Pradeep Pardeshi, PDFA Honorary Secretary.
RESULT
Final: Nagpur: 1 (4) (Sufiyan Shaikh 47th; Stanley Peter, Sagar Chintala, Nirmal Munnda, Sufiyan Sheikh) bt Pune 1 (2) (Mohammad Shabab 82nd – o.g; Jeevan Rawat, Shubham Pednekar)
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
Best Goalkeeper: Owasis Khan (Nagpur)
Best Defender: Sidhant Pranay (Pune)
Best Midfielder: Shrikant Molangiri (Pune)
Top Scorer: Sumit Bhandari (Pune; 9 goals)
Player of the Tournament: Sufiyan Sheikh (Nagpur)
