Hyderabad: The 1st annual Hyderabad FC Youth Football Tournament, The Hyderabad Football League – Rookies Cup III and Hyderabad Football League – Women’s Season – I finals were concluded at FoodBall Park, Jubilee Hills on Sunday, 15 March, 2020.

Hyderabad FC along with HFL organised this tournament in order to effectively promote and manage youth football, and encourage more girls to play this beautiful game. HFC decided on a strategic start of the tournament which would accommodate the numerous players who are interested to play the game and hence give a fair opportunity for a wider pool of football players to participate in this year’s youth tournament.

In a keenly contested match for the women’s final CFA beat HFL 3-1. In the men’s final FK7 outplayed Onslaught FC 4-0 to be crowned champions. Simran Katyal and Taher Uddin were awarded the golden ball for their outstanding performances throughout the tournament. India Under-23 International and Hyderabad FC player, Asish Rai was the chief guest for the event and gave away the awards.

Adil Mistry, Director of HFL, said, “The support from HFC has been immense. It helped us to pull this tournament off so successfully. It was great to have Asish Rai here and all the players were really excited to see him. We are hopeful that this partnership of HFC and HFL together will change the football culture in the city, in the long run.”

Speaking on the occasion, Asish Rai, Hyderabad FC player said, “Playing matches is instrumental in shaping how we play and this football tournament would definitely work as a confidence booster for all the participants. We should organize more tournaments like this and my advise to the teams are that practice always pays off, and participants must learn to bounce back in case they do not win”.