The RFYS Football tournament 2018-19 is heading towards its business end. While the City Finals are concluding in multiple cities, the National Qualifiers commenced last week as the best teams from North East Zone 1 sealed their place in the National Championship. Ludhiana played host to the second group of RFYS National Qualifiers in North Zone 1 in which the champions of Ludhiana, Chandigarh and Dehradun played out some enthralling games.

Over the course of 3 days, from 27th to 29th November, Ludhiana’s Guru Hargobind Singh Khalsa College hosted 12 entertaining games. The opening day witnessed clashes between the institutes from Chandigarh and Ludhiana. Playing on their home ground, the College Boys of Guru Hargobind Singh Khalsa College edged past Sri Guru Gobind Singh College to register a 2-1 victory. The School Girls of Shri Guru Harkrishan Public Sr Sec School then showed their prowess and went on to defeat Govt Model Sr Sec School 3-1. The next two games were one-sided as Chandigarh’s Junior Boys and Senior Boys convincingly defeated their counterparts of Ludhiana. While Himalaya Public School won 6-0 against Dawindra International Public School, defending champions Minerva Public School won 5-1 against Doaba Public School.

The second day was reserved for institutes of Chandigarh locking horns with those of Dehradun. Sri Guru Gobind Singh College bounced back from their defeat to beat Dehradun’s Graphic Era Deemed University 4-2. Same was the case with Govt Model Sr Sec School who defeated Gorkha Military Inter College 1-0. The Junior Boys of Maharana Pratap Sports College then thwarted the high-flying Minerva Public School to emerge victorious. However, their Senior Boys couldn’t repeat the feat against the mighty Minerva Public School who won 2-0 and sealed their place in the National Championship.

The last and final day of North Zone 1 National Qualifiers had 4 interesting games lined-up between the institutes of Dehradun and Ludhiana. Three of these 4 games were pivotal as they would decide which team will eventually go on to the National Championship. The first game saw Guru Hargobind Singh Khalsa College stamp their authority over Graphic Era Deemed University. With this victory, the College Boys qualified for the National Championship. Shri Guru Harkrishan Public Sr Sec School were the next one to book their National Championship berth and they did that in style! Ludhiana’s School Girls continued to remain unbeaten and defeated Gorkha Military Inter College 4-0. In the next game, the Junior Boys of Maharana Pratap Sports College got the better of Dawindra International Public School and got a ticket to RFYS National Championship, after a 3-0 win. The final match was a dead rubber between Doaba Public School and Maharana Pratap Sports College but it was perhaps the most closely contested game of the day as the Senior Boys of Doaba won 3-2 in penalty shootout after 0-0.

This was the first time that institutes of Ludhiana and Dehradun plied their trade in RFYS Football tournament and they managed to impress everyone with their abilities. Here are the institutes from North Zone 1 who will be playing in the National Championship.

Junior Boys – Maharana Pratap Sports College, Dehradun
School Girls – Shri Guru Harkrishan Public Sr Sec School, Ludhiana
Senior Boys – Minerva Public School, Chandigarh
College Boys – Guru Hargobind Singh Khalsa College, Ludhiana