The Odisha state U18 men’s team missed out on the top spot of the podium by a whisker as they fell short against hosts Madhya Pradesh 3-2 in the Khelo India Youth Games 2022 final at Gwalior.
Captained by our HPC cadet – Rosan Kujur, Odisha started the match in great fashion. With constant pressure on the MP goal, Odisha broke the deadlock late in the first quarter. Irengbam Rohit Singh who scored the winner in the semi-finals against Jharkhand stood up once again to put the visitors in lead. Madhya Pradesh struck back within a couple minutes as Zameer Mohammed levelled the game off a penalty corner.
Odisha’s Akash Soreng who was on three goals for the tournament, stood up once again a couple minutes into the second half. His drag flick beat the MP goalkeeper and Odisha led for the second time in the game. The hosts replied by winning a few penalty corners that were defended brilliantly by Odisha. Keeper Takhelchangbam Anish Sharma made some big saves during the game but could not keep out efforts from MP’s captain Ankit Pal and Ali Ahmad. With ten minutes left on the clock, the hosts led 3-2. Odisha did their best to get an equalizer but despite a yellow card for Madhya Pradesh, they were kept at bay. Players and fans of Madhya Pradesh cheered out loud as the full-time hooter went off and the score read 3-2 in favor of the hosts.
15 HPC cadets were part of the Odisha team that stood second on the podium. Our boys vertical head coach – P Lakshminarayan and assistant coach – Vijay were proud of the effort put in by the team.
a 1-0 loss to Haryana in the bronze medal match.
On the other hand, Odisha’s girls team suffered a heartbreak after going down to Haryana 1-0 in the bronze-medal match. Both teams will now return to base at the iconic Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar and work stronger towards making the top spot of the podium in the coming tournaments.
