Marshal Star-XI of Bhubaneswar edged out Mangala Club of Cuttack by 2-1 goals in the inaugural match of the Pravakar Das Memorial Football Tournament at Unit-6 High School Ground here on Monday.
Badrinath draw the first blood in the third minute of the play and his-mate Sulman Soren netted a goal in the 10th minute, MS-XI registered a 2-0 lead in the first-half. After the change of sides, Nirmal Swain of Magala Club scored the solitary goal in the 54th minute to reduce the winning margin. MS-XI entered the semifinal round. Mangala Club (Cuttack), Unit-6 Athletic Association, MS-XI, Green Club, Kishor Club, AG Odisha, Bir Bajarangabali Club and KIIT (all Bhubaneswar) are the eight teams participating in the meet. The champion team would receive the trophy along with cash prize of Rs 10,000 and the runners-up to get Rs 5,000. Unit-6 Athletic Association is organizing the meet whivh will concluded on February 23. Prakash Chandra Das, Chandrakant Barik, Pradip Nayak and Kabi Nayak were conducted the match as referees. OTv editor Somiyajit Patnaik inaugurated the match as the chief guest. Among others, Unit-6 Athletic Association secretary Dilip Kumar Das, treasure Pradip Kumar Das, Prafula Mishra, Bhubaneswar Athletic Association secretary SR Parija, joint-secretary Naba Ranjan Patnaik, Akhya Das and Arabinda Mitra were present.