Mohammedan Sporting players pose with the trophy on Tuesday. Picture by P. Brahma Choudhury

Kokrajhar, Dec. 21: Mohammedan Sporting Club coach Sabir Ali has asked Assam to “invest in youth” if it wants to improve the standard of football.

The piece of advice came after Ali’s team won the 8th Bodoland Martyrs’ Gold Cup in Kokrajhar on Tuesday.

“Although we have won the trophy, we need to keep improving. Teams from Assam have been playing well and can pose a challenge if they focus on youth at the grassroots. The OIL team is good; ASEB is good as well. The football grounds are great and Assam is the only state that is hosting so many tournaments,” he said.

On Mohammedan Sporting’s performance in the Bodoland Martyrs’ Gold Cup, he said: “ We were 10 players in the second half of the final. That made it difficult for us but we prevailed.”

Ali praised the organisers and the people of Kokrajhar for their support.

“We enjoyed our stay here. The spectators were supportive, though I was surprised to see so few people on the ground. I am thankful to the crowd and the organising committee for their support.”

This is the second time that Mohammedan Sporting has won the Bodoland Martyrs’ Gold Cup.

The club won the 5th edition of the meet in 2004.

The champion team went home with Rs 50,000 and the gold cup, while the runners-up received Rs 25,000 and the trophy.

Ranking tennis

Unseeded Bedabrata Mohan defeated third seed Abir Choudhury 6-4 in the under-14 category, while Rangan Choudhury overcame Krishna Kakoty 6-4 in the under-14 category of the 10th India Club open ranking tennis tournament in Guwahati today.

The other winners of the day were Abhinash Kaushik, Partha Konwar and Trishna Talukdar (under-12 boys); Abhinash Kaushik and Arunjoy Barua (under-14 boys); Tutu Thapa, Ankur J. Saikia and Sabir Hussain (under-18); and Sreyashi Dutta and Abha M. Barua (under-12 girls).