For the first time ever, Under-14 (U-14) footballers of Jharkhand in the boys and girls category have bagged winner positions in 59th National School Football Tournament which concluded in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Boys’ team led the first place by defeating West Bengal while the team of girls was in the third place of this meet defeating Chhattisgarh with 2-0 goals individually. Both the contingents returned here on Thursday morning after which State Sports Deputy Director Sarojini lakra said that the players will be felicitated at Astroturf Stadium on Friday. “State footballers have made their mark in U-17 and U-19 but achieving an honour in this tender age was awaited. All eyes were on Ajay Kisko of our boys’ team in this championship. He was declared as Man of the Match here and has maximum chances of being selected in the upcoming India team framed by School Games Federation of India.
The expectation is same for our budding player Pascal Tiru,” Devendra Singh, State Manager for both the teams, said. Ajay hails from a rural background of Dumka and his coordination with Pascal Tiru is known to be the main reason behind Jharkhand’s win in the national tournament. 14-year-old Pascal shared his experience on bagging the trophy. He said, “For last three years, I have been riding cycle for six to seven kilometers everyday to reach the practice ground of my area. Winning this first ever national tournament has brought me in limelight. Hope this hard work paves way for the India team selection.” On the other hand, Ajay’s mother expressed joy on her son’s Man of the Match appreciation. She said, “My son is in class six and is representing State for past one year. This felicitation will definitely benefit his career.”
For the state footballers, playing against West Bengal was not an easy task as the latter was considered the strongest one among the other participating State teams. Describing the final match, Singh highlighted the moment when even the referee seemed biased towards the West Bengal team. He said, “Our boys had confidently defeated Subroto Mukherjee International Football Championship winner Manipur team by 3-0 goals so conquering West Bengal was a big challenge.”
However, he complained about the hospitality arrangements made in Kolkata. “Technically, the football ground was excellent but accommodation was horrible,” he said. like always the tournament began with league matches followed by Quarter Finals, Semi Finals and Final matches. According to Singh, national players Indu Kumari and Asha Kumari from Hazaribagh and Dhanbad districts accompanied by Vinita Ekka, Manisha Ekka and Monica made it possible for the girls to reach to the third position. As many as 18 girls and 16 boys represented the State in this tournament.