The Texas team has finally bagged the winner trophy in the two-day ‘first Bhutanese Inter-State Soccer Tournament’ that concluded today in Atlanta, GA.
Gopi Khatiwada’s single score, minutes before the half time, with his head during a corner shoot, pushed back Georgia (Red), leading it to convince with runner during the final match.
The final match, earlier scheduled to begin at 6pm, could not kick-off on time due to incessant rain. At estimated one thousand plus Bhutanese including their local friends watched the match live in the playground.
Meanwhile, Krishna Rai from Pennsylvania was declared ‘man of the tournament’. California team received a small award for its ‘fair play’ role. Krishna Lamichane, the goalkeeper from Tennessee, bagged an award for his exceptional abilities.
At least 18 Bhutanese soccer teams, representing 14 States, including several hundreds fans from across the USA have thronged in Atlanta, GA to participate in the two-day knockout Bhutanese Inter-State Soccer Tournament, which concluded today evening.
The independent sports lovers and volunteers, the organizer of the tournament, informed BNS that soccer teams from California, Kansas, Utah, Missouri, Texas, Georgia (two teams), Ohio (two teams), Tennessee, (two teams), Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Illinois (two teams), Michigan and Colorado participated in the tournament.
The judges of the matches were US-certified FIFA umpires, who are non-Bhutanese.
According to Bikash Chhetri, one of organizing committee members, the slogan of the tournament was ‘empowerment through sports’. Chhetri further added that such an opportunity was aimed at exploring to bring together young Bhutanese, sports lovers, among others, and help them create motivation to continue their dedication to games and sports, in particular—soccer.
Click here to see highlights of the tournament in photographs.
Below is the result of the first day tournament on Friday.
Pole ‘A’
- California Vs Charlotte-North Carolina (winner—California)
- Virginia RUC Vs Utah (winner—Virginia)
- Pennsylvania Vs Wheat Aurora, Illinois (winner—Pennsylvania)
- Georgia-Red Vs Missouri (winner—Georgia)
- Tennessee Vs Cincinnati, Ohio, (winner—Tennessee)
Pole ‘B’
- Chicago Vs Kansas (winner—Chicago)
- Kentucky Vs Colorado (winner—Kentucky)
- Texas Vs Tennessee –B (winner—Texas)
- Georgia-Green Vs Michigan (winner—Georgia)
- Akron-Ohio Vs Shoot Dead-Virginia (winner—Ohio)
Second Round
- Pennsylvania bet Virginia RUC
- Kentucky lost against Texas
- Georgia-Red bet Tennessee-A
- Georgia-Green pushed back Akron-Ohio
It is reportedly learnt that the organizers including this time’s soccer team manager reached an informal decision to organize similar event next year in California.
Reported by Kamal Dahal with inputs from Gopal Subedi from the soccer venue, GA for BNS.
