MCL Cup: Kalinga Bidyapitha breezes through to quarters

Bhubaneswar: Defending champions Kalinga Bidyapitha, Sampur, trounced Palasuni High School 6-0 in their second and last Group-A match to become the first team to enter the quarterfinals of the MCL Cup 29th Bhubaneswar Inter-School Football Tournament being held at Unit-VI Boys’ High School Ground here on Saturday.
Kalinga Bidyapitha owed their win to vibrant striker Ashok Padhi, who notched up the first hat-trick of the tournament, scoring his three goals in the 15th, 17th and 45th minutes. Other three goals for Kalinga Bidyapitha were netted by Mihir Dehuri (23rd), Suryakanta Majhi (28th) and Tiku Samad (35th). Ashok Padhi’s hat-trick fetched him the player of the match prize, which he received from Khurda District Sports Officer Lalit Mohan Mohanty.

Earlier in the day, former champions Sainik School started their Group-Fcampaign on a whirlwind note, hammering St Xavier’s High School, Khandagiri, with a record margin of 8-0 goals. Martyajit Das alone scored four goals to be adjudged the player of the match. Among other scorers, Binay Hial struck twice, while Satyendra Reddy and K Arjun Reddy bulged the net once each. Martyajit received the player of the match prize from former athlete and Income Tax Deputy Commissioner Pranati Mishra.

Today’s matches were officiated by match commissioner Maheswar Singh along with referees Saroj Moharana, Sekhawat Khan, Rajendra Barik, Amit Nayak, Asirbad Kanungo and Bulbul Bhoi. The tournament is being organised by Unit-VI Athletic Association.