Cuttack emerged champions in the 57th Senior Men Inter-District Football Championship for Gouri Shankar Sahani Cup, defeating Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) in the final by 2-0 goals at VSS Stadium in Sambalpur today.

Cuttack trio Chinmay Behera, Bikash Chnadra Padhiary and Rudra Prasad Pradhan pocked the prizes as best goalkeeper, best scorer and best defender of the tournament in the order. Ranjit Kerketta and Jayant Mahato (both RSP) were adjudged player of the tournament and best up-coming player respectively.

Sambalpur Parliament Member Nagendra Kumar Pradhan and Police Superintendent Akhileshveer Singh handed over the trophy and prizes in the closing function. Football Association of Odisha working president Dr Srikara Mishra and Sambalpur DAA secretary Dulal Chandra Pradhan were present on the occasion.

Earlier in the semifinals, Cuttack came from behind to beat Angul 7-6 via penalty shoot out, while RSP got the better of Phulbani 5-3 also in tie-breaker. As many as 28 district teams participated in the tournament, which was hosted by Sambalpur District Athletic Association and Baragarh District Athletic Association, under the aegis of Football Association of Odisha from June 26. The tournament featured a total of 25 matches.

Last year, the tournament was skipped as Football Association of Odisha failed to arrange any venue. Cuttack and Jharsuguda shared the trophy in the 56th edition of the tournament, which was hosted by Jharsuguda District Athletic Association at Jharsuguda, Brajarajnagar, Belpahar and Laikera from October 20 to 30, 2014. Sahani Cup Tournamnet will serve as the basis for the selection of Odisha team for Santosh Trophy National Football Championship.

RESULTS:
AT SAMBALPUR:
June 26: Deogarh (Karpan Lakra 15th) beat Sambalpur (Amar Lakra 2nd) 6-4 in tie breaker (Full time 1-1).
June 27: Keonjhar (Arik Chelak Cheela 15th) beat Balasore (Daman Marndi 11th) 6-5 in tie-breaker. (Full time 1-1).
June 28: Bhadrak got walk-over against Malkangiri as the latter failed to report.
June 29: Deogarh (Anil Tigga 9th, 46th, 65th) beat Keonjhar (Bikash Karua 20th, Sonaram Laguri 94th) 3-2.
June 30: Angul (Francis Lakra 29th, Sujit Tirkey 50th, 72th; Priya Ranjan Sethy 60th, Antarjami Nayak 74th) beat Bhadrak 5-0.
July 1 (QF): Angul (Sujit Tirkey 20th, Antayami Nayak 35th) beat Deogarh (Anil Tigga 42nd) 2- 1.
July 5 (Final): Cuttack (V George Prakash 80th, Bikash Chnadra Padhiary 87th) beat Rourkela Steel Plant 2-0.

AT RAIRAKHOL:
June 27: Mayurbhanj beat Dhenkanal 4-3 in tie-breaker (Full time 0-0).
June 28: Ganjam (Prasanta Ku Behera 44th) beat Kendrapada 1-0.
June 29: Paradip Port Trust (Badal Bhoi 7th, 67th; Sk Farid 20th, 72nd, 89th; Sk Imtiaz Ali 36th, 65th; Chandra Sekhar Behera 69th, Sriram Marandi 85th) beat Puri (Muniram Soren 3rd, Rashmi Ranjan Pradhan 85th) 9-2.
June 29: Mayurbhanj (Ajit Kumar Majhi 33rd, Syama Tudu 37th, Sumanta Chatriya 82th) beat Ganjam 3-0.
June 30: Cuttack (Sunil Sardar 61st, Bijay Behera 90th) beat Paradip Port Trust (Chandra Sekhar Behera 17th) 2-1.
July 1 (QF): Cuttack (Bhabagrahi Padhihari 18th, Aica Singh Gurung 85th) beat Mayurbhanj 2-0.
July 3 (SF): Cuttack (Bikash Padhiary 72nd, Simal Marndi 82nd) beat Angul (Antarjami Naik 36th, Sujit Tirkey 63rd) 7-6 in tie-breaker (Regulation time 2-2 draw).

AT BARGARH:
June 26: Nayagarh (D Sanjay 75th) beat Sundargarh 1-0.
June 27: Bolangir (Debarchan Bag 14th, Sourav Ranjan Hanuman 69th, 79th; Debaraj Sa 87th) beat Raygada 4-0.
June 28: Bargarh (Dilsan Bag 58th, Rohul Jayswail 65th, Mukesh Bhoi 70th, Jhuna Biswal 74th, Bhabani Majhi 84th) beat Sonpur 5-0.
June 29: Rourkela Steel Plant got walk-over against Koraput.
June 29: Bolangir (Sunil Bagh 52nd, Dibakar Bagh 72nd, Suasnt Kumar Naik 91st) beat Nayagarh (D Sanjay 2nd) 3-1.
June 30: Rourkela Steel Plant (Ranjit Kerketta 22nd, Janmo Xess 27th, 61st) beat Bargarh 3-0.
July 1 (QF): Rourkela Steel Plant (Sankha Marandi 11th, Kalyan Ku Murmu 26th) beat Bolangir (Susant Ku Nayak 65th) 2-1.
July 3 (SF): Rourkela Steel Plant (Ambika Lakra 58th) beat Phulbani (Md Irsad Alam 83rd) 5-3 in tie-breaker (Regulation time: 1-1 draw).

AT BARAPALI:
June 27: Phulbani (Bijoy Mukhi 39th, 67th; Rajak Nag 70th, 93rd) beat Kalhanadi (Bipin Durai 76th) 4-1.
June 28: Khurda (Basanta Sahoo 51st) beat Jajpur (A Abhimanyu 45th) 5-4 via tie-breaker (Full time 1-1).
June 29: Bhubaneswar (Sasikant Ssandyl 23rd) beat Nabarangpur 1-0.
June 29: Phulbani (Rajak Nag 7th, 47tj, 61st; Bijoy Mukhi 29th, Santosh Naik 45th, Ananad Lakra 65th, Akhilesh Toppo 87th) beat Khurda 7-0.
June 30: Bhubaneswar beat Jharsuguda 3-1 in tie-breaker (Regulation time 0-0).
July 1 (QF): Phulbani beat Bhubaneswar 3-1 in tie-breaker. (Regulation time: 0-0).
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PHOTO: Players of champion Cuttack team lift the Sahani Cup in Sambalpur on July 5, 2016.