Kokrajhar, Oct. 12: The 10th Jwhwlao Swmbla Basumatary Gold Cup Football Championship began today at Bangaldoba in Chirang district.

In the inaugural match, Tezpur Army XI defeated Gossaigaon Global Sports Academy 11-10 via tie-breaker.

Bishnu Rabha of Global scored the first goal in the seventh minute, but Baisun Basumatary equalised the score for the army boys in the 28th minute.

Ginendra Brahma scored the second goal for Global in the 37th minute to take the lead to 2-1 in the first half.

The second half saw a tight contest between the two teams, with Kausik Narzary equalising for the army boys in the 74th minute.

In the tie-breaker, the army boys got the better of Global and romped home with a win.

Tomorrow, Chirang District Sports Association will lock horns with Kokrajhar District Sports Association.

A total 11 teams, including Oil India Limited (OIL) Dhuliajan, Assam Rifles, South Eastern Railway, Jharkhand, Green Valley Guwahati, Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB), Guwahati, Tezpur Army XI and other football teams from the Bodo belt are participating in the championship, which has being organised in memory of former All Bodo Students’ Union (Absu) president Swmbla Basumatary.

The champions will receive Rs 35,000 along with the trophy, while the runners-up will get richer by Rs 25,000.