JHAPA: Machhindra Football Club Kathmandu has been crowned the champions of 7th Jhapa Gold Cup football tournament.

Machhindra lifted the Jhapa Gold Cup trophy for the first time by defeating Armed Police Force’s, APF Football Club, by 3 goals to 1.

Machhindra took the lead in the 31st minute of the game with striker Pradeep Budhathoki scoring the team’s first goal on a pass from foreign recruit Ayola Hamjat.

Then in the injury time of the first half (45th minute), Frank Anoh converted Devendra Tamang’s long shot into a goal, putting Machhindra in a comfortable 2-0 lead.

In the 76th minute of the game, APF was reduced to 10 players after defender Man Bahadur Rana Magar received a red card.

However, a few minutes later, in the 82nd minute, Dipesh Dhimal got APF back into the game scoring from Biswas Udas’ free-kick that Machhindra defenders failed to clear.

But Machhindra scored the decisive goal a minute later, with Defender Alison Alizonov heading Ayola Hamzat’s corner to secure the win.

Along with title and gold cup, Machhindra received Rs. 1.5 million in cash while runner-up APF settled for Rs. 750,000. This edition of the Jhapa Gold Cup was dedicated to the former Chairperson of the Gold Cup Management Committee, Binod Basnet, who passed away last year. This was the tournament’s highest prize money so far.

Machhindra’s Pradeep Budhathoki was declared the ‘Player of the Match’ in the final and received a cash prize of Rs 25,000. Pema Tamang was declared the best player of the tournament and received a Yamaha motorcycle.

Bishal Shrestha was declared the best goalkeeper, Prabhesh Katwal the best coach and Jonathan Zorilla the top scorer. They received Rs 35,000 each.

Similarly, among the spectators who bought tickets to watch the match, Preeti Moktan of Birtamod received a Yamaha scooter through a lottery. Three departmental teams from Nepal, various ‘A’ division clubs and clubs from India, Bhutan and Malaysia participated in the competition.