Jaipur: The first Rajasthan Senior Futsal League, held under the auspices of the Rajasthan Football Association at the Astro Turf football ground on Green Avenue in Sriganganagar, concluded with great fanfare on Saturday. In a thrilling final, Ganganagar City FC defeated Zinc Football Academy, Udaipur, 3-2 to win the title.
Dilip Singh Shekhawat, secretary of the Rajasthan Football Association, stated that the association is continuously working to promote football in the state and regularly organises competitions for men, women, boys, and futsal. He added that successful league competitions for all categories are only seen in select states. To this end, a futsal league was organised this year in the border region of Sriganganagar, giving local players the opportunity to participate in high-level competitions.
Semi-final matches
In the first semi-final, Zinc Football Academy thrashed Golajo Ranthambore Football Club 10-2. Manish Meel, Suvin Swami, Himesh Meena, and Bharat Meena scored two goals each for Zinc, while Sanjay and Sandeep Marandi contributed one goal apiece. Jaidev Singh and Aman Tyagi chipped in with a goal each for Golajo Ranthambore. Zinc Football Academy’s Manish Meel was named Player of the Match for his outstanding performance.
In the second semi-final, Ganganagar City FC edged past Jaipur Futsal Club 4-3 in a thrilling match to advance to the final. Ganganagar City FC’s Trilokraj Singh was named Player of the Match.
Exciting Final
In the evening final, Zinc Football Academy took the lead in the second minute with a goal from Himesh Meena and maintained a 1-0 lead until halftime. Ganganagar City FC made a remarkable comeback in the second half, leveling the score at 1-1 with a goal from captain Ankit Mankad in the 39th minute.
Due to the 1-1 tie at the end of regulation time, the match went into extra time. In the 43rd minute of extra time, Jagminthang gave Zinc the lead again, but in the 45th minute, Trilokraj Singh converted a penalty to make the score 2-2. Then, in the final moments, Trilokraj Singh scored his second goal, giving Ganganagar City FC a memorable 3-2 victory. For his outstanding performance, Trilokraj Singh was named Player of the Match in the final.
Award Winners
In the closing ceremony, the winning and runner-up teams were honoured with trophies and medals.
Best Player: Manish Meel (Zinc Football Academy)
Best Goalkeeper: Akshay (Zinc Football Academy)
Top Scorer: Saurabh (Ganganagar City FC) – 9 goals
Fair Play Award
Jaipur Futsal Club
Eight teams participated
Eight professional teams from the state participated in the competition, which included Zinc Football Academy (Udaipur), Jaipur City Football Club, Ganganagar City Football Club, Golajo Ranthambore Football Club, Rihaan Football Academy, Red Stone Football Club, Jaipur Futsal Club and Jaipur Elite Football Club.
The technical delegation played a crucial role in the successful conduct of the tournament. Satish Jangid (Technical Head), Bhairuratan Ojha (Match Commissioner), Kartikey Paliwal, Javed Ali, Rahul Ojha, Rohitash, and Narendra served as match officials and referees.
Suhas Nayse, Special correspondent, Sports, The Times of India, J...
Read MoreSuhas Nayse, Special correspondent, Sports, The Times of India, Jaipur edition.
He joined TOI Jaipur edition in February, 2023. He was also part of the TOI Nagpur edition from 2006 to 2020 as a sports reporter. He has been covering sports for more than two decades.
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