Friendship Cup Football Tournament 2023 : Tata Steel XI beat Officers XI

Bhubaneswar : Tata Steel XI beat Officers XI 2-1 to win the Friendship Cup Football Tournament 2023 at the Odisha Football Academy Stadium on Sunday, October 1.

Four teams participated in the tournament. Tata Steel XI was led by Rajiv Seth (Project Director at Naval Tata Hockey Academy, Odisha), Leaders XI was led by Dr. Arun Sahoo (MLA, Nayagarh), Officers XI was led by DebiduttBiswal (PCCF & Head of Forest Force, GoO), and Saswat Mishra (Principal Secretary, MSME, GoO), and Media XI was led by SoumyajitPattnaik (Chief Editor, Kalinga TV). Tata Steel XI emerged as the winner, while Officers XI was the runner-up.

Prominent dignitaries in attendance included Pradip KumarAmat, Minister of Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water, Forest, Environment and Climate Change, Information & Public Relations, Government of Odisha, Bikram KeshariArukha, Minister of Finance, Government of Odisha, Tusharkanti Behera, Minister of State for Electronics & IT, Sports & Youth Services, and Home, Odisha, and Niranjan Pujari, Minister of Health and Family Welfare of Odisha, among others.

Several eminent senior journalists attended the event, including K.Ravi, (Resident Editor, Statesman), Sisir Bhatta Mishra, Nandighosha (News Editor), Radhamadhab Mishra (OTV News Editor), BijayKetan Mishra (Editor, PBD), Dillip Bisoi. Editor, India Whispers, and State Information Commissioner), Malaya NayakSamay (News Editor), Nabin Das, Nirbhaya (Editor), Manoranjan Mishra (Editor, Kanak TV), Soumyajit Patnaik (Editor, Kalinga TV), Md. Suffian (Bureau Chief, PTI, TV Wing), SujitBisoyi (State Correspondent, Indian Express), Koustav Das (News Editor, Odisha Bhaskar), DebendraPrusty (Editor, Odisha Reporter), Akshaya Sahoo (State Correspondent, Asian Age), Subhasish Mohanty (State Correspondent, The Telegraph).

In the semi-finals, Officers XI defeated Leaders XI 2-0 in a closely contested match, while Tata Steel XI defeated Media XI 4-1. The Man of the Match for the first match was Ramaswamy of Officers XI; the second match was won by Debashish Nayak of Tata Steel XI; and the third match was awarded to Amitabh Thakur of Officers XI. Dr. Arun Sahoo of Leaders XI and YogeshPancheswar of Tata Steel XI were adjudged the best forwards, and Jaganath Nayak of Leaders XI was declared the best goalkeeper. The Best Defender award was presented to Rajiv Seth of Tata Steel XI; the highest scorer was Anurag Mishra of Officers XI; the Best All-rounder was Suresh Ch. Mohapatra of Officers XI; Saswat Mishra of Officers XI; and BijayKetan Mishra of Media XI was awarded the best half; the Fairplay award went to Leaders XI; and the Best Disciplined Team award was given to Media XI.