Dhangadhi, January 19

Nepal Police Club defeated Ruslan Three Star Club 1-0 to win the title of the third Nepal Ice International Farwest Khaptad Gold Cup here at the Dhangadhi Stadium today.

Abhishek Rijal scored the solitary goal of the match in the second half. After a goalless first half, Rijal netted the winning goal in the 64th minute when he found the back of the nets following a corner from Nir Kumar Rai.

Champions NPC earned Rs 2.1 million along with the trophy of the biggest knock out tournament held outside the valley, while Three Star earned one million rupees. Rijal won the man-of-the-match award, sponsored by RK Construction, and he got Rs 10,000.

NPC coach Ananta Thapa said the team had set the target of winning the title to forget the pain of Pulsar Martyrs Memorial A Division League.

“We were able to register the victory with a timely goal. Otherwise it is very hard to play in this surface,” said the former national team midfielder. “I am satisfied with the overall performance of the team and we will move ahead with the same formation in other tournaments as well. The experience of knock out tournaments in mofussil will help us in preparing the team for the next league,” he added.

NPC also dominated the individual awards winning three titles — Ajit Bhandari (defender), Shatrughan Chaudhary (goalkeeper), Tirtha Rana (highest scorer) and Ananta Thapa (coach).

Bikram Lama of Three Star was named the best midfielder, while Bharat Tamatta of Farwest-XI Sports Club was declared the emerging player. All the best individuals earned Rs 15,000 each.

A total of 12 teams took part in the tournament organised by Farwest-XI Sports Club. Social activist Arzu Rana Deuba, Dhangadhi Submetropolitan City Mayor Nrip Bahadur Oad, General Secretary of All Nepal Football Association Indra Man Tuladhar, and President of Farwest-XI Sports Club Suresh Hamal among others handed over the prizes to the winners.