St. Patrick’s, Jharkhand to defend title against former champions G.S.S.S Alakhpura, Haryana in the finals of Junior Girls Subroto Cup

Khel Today Bureau 

New Delhi: Defending champions St. Patrick’s Gumla, Jharkhand will defend their title when they meet former champions G.S.S.S Alakhpura, Bhiwani, Haryana in the exciting finals of the 62^nd Subroto Cup Junior Girls International Football Tournament which will be played here tomorrow, at the iconic Dr. B.R Ambedkar Stadium. The final will kick-off at 4PM. Air Marshal AP Singh PVSM, AVSM, Vice Chief of the Air Staff will be the Chief Guest for the occasion.

The finals will be telecasted LIVE on DD Sports from 3:3O PM IST and the live streaming will be on the SportsCast India YouTube channel. You can also catch the Highlights on the Prasar Bharti & AIFF YouTube channels.

St. Patrick’s beat Home Mission School, Aizawl, Mizoram in the second semi-final 2-0 to book their place in the finals. Binita Horo and Alpha Kandulna found the net for the defending champions. In the first semi-final, Rishika’s wonderful free kick goal in extra time was enough for G.S.S.S Alakhpura to edge past Ananda Purna School of Science, Thoubal, Manipur to secure their place in the finals.

Former champions G.S.S.S Alakhpura, Bhiwani, winners back in 2015 and 2016, had tight victories in the group stage matches beating G.S.S.S Soreng, Sikkim and Infocus India Public School, 24 Parganas North before beating Hatimari High School, Malda, West Bengal comfortably to qualify for the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, they edged out Lohit Dikrong H.S.S, Lakhimpur, Assam by a solitary goal to qualify for the semi-finals which they beat Ananda Purna School of Science, Thoubal, Manipur for a place in the finals.

Defending champions, St. Patrick’s Gumla, Jharkhand had an easy outing in the group stages beating all three teams comfortably, scoring 39 goals, the highest in the competition. In the quarterfinals, they beat Tripura Sports School, Badharghat 5-0 to book their place in the semi-finals. They showed their class in the semi-finals, putting up a clinical performance to beat Home Mission School, Aizawl, Mizoram to punch their ticket for the summit clash.

Tomorrow’s finals promises to be an exciting clash with the defending champions to take on the former champions at the hallowed grounds of Ambedkar Stadium. Jharkhand and Haryana, which produces talent constantly for women’s football in the country, will have a host of new names who hope to don the Indian colours in the future, like the ones who have done before them.