National Football C’ship: Punjab, J&K win matches

The 79th National Football Championship the Santosh Trophy, organised by the Punjab Football Federation, commenced with great fanfare at the Principal Harbhajan Singh Football Stadium of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa College, Mahilpur.

District Sports Officer Gurpreet Singh was the chief guest for the first match, while Arjuna Awardee footballer Gurdev Singh Gill presided over the sports function. He introduced himself to the players and encouraged them to play with true sportsmanship. Speaking on the occasion, District Sports Officer Gurpreet Singh said that Mahilpur is the home of Punjab football, and it is a matter of pride to host the Santosh Trophy matches here.

In the first match today, the Jammu and Kashmir team defeated Ladakh by a margin of 3-0. In the second match of the championship, Dr Chandra Mohan, Vice-Chancellor of Rayat Bahra University, Hoshiarpur, was the chief guest. In this match, the Punjab team defeated Himachal Pradesh by a large margin of 6-0.