Shillong, Jun 13: Meghalaya added yet another feather to its youth football cap by winning the final of the National School Games boys’ football final against Punjab at the Tatya Tope Stadium in Bhopal today.
Meghalaya won the match 1-0 to claim the gold medal.
The boys had to play two games today; their first saw them progress to the title match by beating Kerala by the same 1-0 margin in the semifinals.
Meanwhile, the Meghalaya girls were beaten this morning in the semis to Bihar, also 1-0. They then lost 2-0 to Jharkhand in the bronze medal match.
The boys first drew 1-1 with Punjab before edging Gujarat 1-0. In the pre-quarterfinals, Meghalaya defeated Delhi by the same margin and then came the quarters where the state boys were involved in an eight-goal encounter with Maharashtra, which Meghalaya won 5-3.
In the girls’ division, Meghalaya slipped to a 3-0 loss to Haryana in their opener but stormed back for a 13-0 win over Uttarakhand. In the pre-quarters, Meghalaya beat Pondicherry 5-2 and, just this evening, they defeated Gujarat in the last-eight 5-3 on penalties after regulation time finished 1-1.
The 66th National School Games began on 6th June and concluded today. It was held in Delhi, Bhopal and Gwalior. The Games were organised by the School Games Federation of India.
Besides football, Meghalaya also competed in athletics, basketball, shooting, badminton and boxing.
