Mizoram's Government Chawmfianga Middle School of Kolasib has won its debut Under-14 boys' title of the 54th Subroto Cup with a spectacular 2-1 victory over Assam's Betkuchi High School from Kamrup held at Dr. Ambedkar Stadium here.
Mizoram and Assam fought a tough match, before the former overpowered the latter by two goals to one to win the title on October 14. Mizoram performed excellently for a third time. This is the third time that a team from Mizoram has won the title.
Coach of the Mizoram Football Team H C Zarzoliana expressed happiness over the team's victory.
"I am very happy that my team won the match and my boys played very well. They tried their best and this is the first time to win this championship from this school," he said.
Lalawmpuia who was awarded the Best player of the year, said: "I am very happy that we won the match and, I am very grateful to God and my coach. Because of them, I also won the title of best player of the year."
Teams from all northeastern states participated in the prestigious Subroto Cup tournament and performed well. Although the Assam Under-14 team failed to bag the trophy, they said they are confident and ready to work hard for the next year.
Captain of the Assam team, Nayanjyoti Kuli said they would work hard and try again next year.
"We lost the match. We tried our best, but we did not win the match. But anyway, we will work hard and try our best again in next year," he said.
Such tournaments not only promote a spirit of sportsmanship among budding players, but also promote unity and integration. The players stayed together for a month, including teams from Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
Squadron Leader N Praveen Kumar said that this is a good platform for children to learn a lot in terms of culture and diversity.
"The most important part of this tournament is that for the small children, especially U-14 and U-17, when they come here and interact with many others teams, without knowing, they are learning quite a lot in terms of cultural and the unity in diversity. VO 4: The wining team received a cash prize of Rs. 2 lakh, while the runners-up took home Rs. 1 lakh," he said.
The title of the best player was won by Lalawmpuia from Mizoram, and he received Rs.25,000 in cash and a laptop.
