Photo: Dipesh Bhandari of Pandas trying to move past Kinar Dahal of Garden FC

Photo Courtesy: Ayush Manandhar

With lots of drama and excitement, the first ever DWIT Futsal tournament kicked off with grand success. Thanks to the Sports Club for making this event a magnificent one. The event was held in BhatBhateni Ground, Maharajung on September 5 & 6. There were 7 team participating in the tournament. Each team consisted of 8 players in which the players were selected by their respective team captain.

Now, the group stages of the tournament has been completed. The next round of the tournament will be held until the next notice published by sports club. Every team on the field has shown a strong desire to take their team into next round. But every one's dreams certainly can’t turn out to be reality. Only the top 4 teams have extended their journey into the semi-finals.

Major Highlights of Day-1

The excellence of Team Spartan & Team Pandas integrated the overall status of the day. Also, the unpredictable result, rise of underdogs team, the comeback made by Team Barbarian were other talking point of the day. Now here is the summary of each game. Budha FC vs Linux FC The first game of the tournament, probably the most competitive game of the tournament so far ended up giving a slight edge to Budha FC. Both team pursued hard but failed to score in the 1^st half. It seemed the match was going to end in a draw but the heroics from Sushant Gurung gave a vital 3 points for Budha FC as the match ended on 1-0 on favor of Budha FC. Spartans vs Garden FC Spartans showed no mercy to Garden FC. They crushed Garden FC by a humiliating score of 9-1. Suman Thapa, the captain of team scored 5 goals in the game whereas Krishna Chauhan bagged his Hat-trick & Ashish Bikram Limachane netted once. Muskan Lamsal scored a consolation goal for the losing side. Team Pandas vs Lama FC A hat-trick from Dipesh Bhandari and a goals from Sumit Shrestha & Sayal Vaidya registered an easy win for Pandas. They won the match by 5-0 and showed a strong performance in the tournament. Barbarian vs Budha FC The game was probably the most entertaining game of the tournament so far. A hat-trick from Sushant Gurung gave an early 3-0 lead for Budha FC. It loked another vital 3 points on the bag for Budha FC until a strong fightback from the Barbarians They netted 5 times in the game and took the game 5-3. Spartans vs Linux FC Shankhar Koirala, the captain of Linux FC scored and gave an early lead for Linux FC but the second half goal from Alan Khadka, Krishna Chauhan & Ashish Bikram Lamichne sealed a win of 3-1 for the Spartans. Garden FC vs Pandas Goals from Sumit Shrestha and Dipesh Bhandari grabbed a 2-0 win for the Pandas. With this win, they registered their second clean sheet in a row. Barbrains vs Lama FC Second half goal from Roshan Basnet gave a vital 3 points for Lama FC. They won the game by 1-0. Spartans Vs Budha FC Hat-trick from Suman thapa and a goal from Alan khadka gave an easy win for the Spartans. They won the match by 4-1 as Sushant Gurung scored a consolation goal for Budha FC. Garden FC vs Linux FC Muskan Lamsal scored the only goal of the game in second half as Garden FC registered their first win in the tournament. Pandas vs Barbarian FC Prabin Rai, one of the best midfielder of the tournament gave a lead for Barbarian FC but they couldn’t keep their lead for long. A goal from Dipesh Bhandari and Sumit Shrestha made an immediate response. Barbarian FC equalized with a goal from Subin Shrestha. A brace from Pratik Budathoki sealed a 4-2 win for Pandas. Budha FC vs Lama FC Brace from Anil Lama and Prajwal Sthapit gave an important 4-1 win over Budha FC and added a vital 3 points on bag for Lama FC. Sanjeev Budha scored a consolation goal for Budha FC. [metaslider id=8471]

Major Highlights of Day-2

A terrific performance from Suman Thapa, the defensive tactics of Lama FC, the desire shown by Linux FC sums the status of the day. The events kicked off at 12 noon and ended at 5. Here is the result of each game. Linux FC vs Pandas Team Pandas, one of the strongest team of Day-1 started well with a goal from Dipesh Bhandari. But they couldn’t hold the excellence of Shankhar Koirala. Koirala's powerful volley leveled the game 1-1. Second half goal from Prayush Shrestha gave a lead for Linux FC but their lead couldn’t last long as Sumit Shrestha equalized for Pandas. A late second goal from Shankhar Koirala ensured a first win for Linux FC stunning the mighty Pandas. Spartans vs Barbarians Braces from Suman Thapa and a goal from Alan Khadka register an important win for Spartans as they won the game by 3-2. Bidur Banstola and Subin Shrestha scored a goal each for Barbarians. Gardan FC vs Lama FC Sanjay Rimal opened for Garden FC but braces from Prajjwal Sthapit gave a 2-1 lead for Lama FC. But a last minute goal from Musakan Lamsal sealed a vital 1 points for Gardan FC as the game ended with 2-2. Budha FC vs Pandas Pandas sealed an easy win as they won the fixture by 4-0. Sumit Shrestha scored a hat-trick whereas Dipesh Bhandari added 1 to his account. It was the third clean sheet for the Pandas' goal keeper Bimal Gaire. Linux FC vs Barbarians Braces from Shankar Koirala and a goal from Prayush Shrestha added an important 3 points for Linux FC. The match ended with 3-0 in favor of Linux FC. Spartans vs Lama FC Lama FC took away a vital 1 point against the high-flying Spartan side. The fixture ended with 2-2. Suman Thapa, one of the best performer of the tournament scored a brace but Prajjwal Sthapit & Anil Lama punished with a goal in the defensive howler of Spartans. Budha FC vs Garden FC Garden FC garbed an important 3 points in the race of top-4 as they won the fixture by 4-1. Kinar Dahal baged his first hat-trick of the tournament. Linux FC vs Lama FC A goal from Anil Lama secured a semi final spot for Lama FC as as they won the game 1-0 ending the remaining hope for Linux FC. Spartans vs Pandas The demolishing performance from Suman Thapa and Krishna Chauhan registered an unbeaten first round performance for Spartans. They won the fixture by highest goal difference in any match of this tournament so far with 10-1. Suman Thapa solely scored 7 goals and Krishna Chauhan bagged his first hat-trik of the tournament whereas Bimal Gaire scored consolation goal for Pandas. Barbarians vs Garden FC Hat-trick from Rakesh Shrestha and a brace from Sanjay Rimal ended the first round of the tournament as Garden FC thrashed Barbarians by 5-1. The teams that extended their journey into the semifinal are Spartans, Pandas, Garden FC & Lama FC. Suman Thapa, the captain of Spartans remains on top with 21 goals to his account. Sarthak Khanal, a player from Budha FC says, “Thanks to the sports club for organizing the tournament. Such type of tournaments give added happiness to us. I have enjoyed each part of every game.” Sumit Shrestha, the Sports Club president says “I think our club has successfully fulfilled the hunger of football that was seen among the Deerwalkers. Thanks to everyone who supported us in making this event successful. Also, due to the lack of full support from Media Club, our plan of Top-10 goals of tournament couldn’t be completed.“ The Semi Finals will held very soon. Congratulations to all the top-4 teams and BEST of LUCK as Well. Stay tuned for more updates.