A moment from the match between Manipur and Orissa at the Karbi Anglong Sports Association ground in Diphu on Sunday. Telegraph picture

Nagaon, May 11: Manipur emerged champions in the 4th sub-junior (under-17) girls’ national football championship, defeating defending champions Orissa 2-0 in the final at Karbi Anglong Sports Association ground in Diphu today.

Manipur led the first half by a solitary goal with midfielder Monteswari Chanu making good use of a pass by striker E. Bindiya Rani Devi in the 30th minute.

Bindiya Rani’s attempt in the 59th minute brought the second goal for Manipur and enabled her to bag the Best Player of the Tournament title.

The Manipur girls gained control of the match right from the beginning with superb co-ordination in all areas while the Orissa girls appeared off colour in the striking zone in particular.

Though Orissa got several opportunities to score, particularly in the second half, poor moves led to their failure to ruffle the net.

Manipur, who were the quarter-final league champions from group B, defeated Goa, Kerala and Mizoram to tally nine points.

Manipur defeated Tamil Nadu 1-0 in the semi-final to ensure a final berth.

Orissa were the quarter-final league champion from group A, defeating Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Sikkim to tally nine points. The Orissa girls outplayed Mizoram 3-1 in the semi-final.

Orissa were the champions and Manipur were the runners-up in the third edition of the tournament in Tamil Nadu last year.

Tamil Nadu defeated Mizoram 2-0 in a playoff match for the third position on Saturday and were also awarded Rs 1,000 in cash for being the Most Disciplined team.

Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council chief executive member Mangalsing Ingti attended the prize distribution ceremony as the chief guest. Assam Football Association secretary Ankur Dutta, joint secretary Tapan Hazarika and Assam Olympic Association assistant general secretary Bishnu Ram Nunisa were present at the concluding ceremony.

More than 20,000 people from different parts of Karbi Anglong and Nagaon gathered to watch the final match today.

Altogether 21 teams participated in the meet. Hosts Assam were eliminated in pre-quarter-final stage.