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Final match in progress at Shibpur Police Lines. Pictures by Gopal Senapati
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The final match at Shibpur Police Lines on February 16 was closely fought. The two teams in the middle were all out to grab the winner’s trophy. After police commissioner Ajay Ranade shook hands with them, they kicked off immediately trying to get possession of the ball right from the first whistle of the referee. The yellow jerseys of Bally Athletic Club, representing Bally police station, clashed with the dark blue jerseys of Carry Packer representing Shibpur police station. Both teams were facing each other for the final of the second edition of the Howrah Commissioner’s Cup. After a good one-hour’s play, Bally police station won 1-0.
Celebrations begun on the field. The winning team celebrated to the beats of a dhak. Players and other club members of Bally Athletic Club danced a jig on the ground. The IC of Bally police station, Dipak Sarkar did not lose this chance and joined in the dance. The winners received Rs 11,000 along with the trophy while the runners-up received Rs 7,000 and a trophy. The trophies and gifts were given away by the guests, coach Syed Naimuddin, weight-lifter Lakshmikanta Das, crickter Lakshmi Ratan Shukla, minister for agriculture marketing, Arup Roy and others.
The second Howrah Comm-issioner’s Cup, kicked off from February 7 to 10 with the knockout matches. At the zonal level, several football clubs competed with each other to represent their respective police stations in the tournament. Finally, eight teams were selected to represent the eight police stations under the commissionerate. On February 12, the quarter-finals were held and on February 14 the semi-finals were played between the four police stations that had qualified — Jagachha, Shibpur, Bally and Malipanchghora. Shibpur and Bally emerged finalists. “We have taken this community-police initiative seriously in order to interact better with local people. This year’s response was far better than last year’s as more teams came forward to participate in the tournament,” said Nishat Pervez, the deputy commissioner (headquarter).
COMPILED BY DALIA MUKHERJEE |
