Club 11 lift inaugural Int'l Club 7s title

Club 11 became champions in the inaugural International Club 7s after beating arch-rival Amigos FC in an intense final at the International Turkish Hope School ground on Saturday night. After the score was locked at 1-1 at the end of stipulated time, the eventual winners prevailed in the tie-breaker 5-4. The non-professional 7-a-side football tournament was competed by eight teams – Amigos FC, Apparel Industry FC, Club 11, ValueFirst & Friends, Lions United (Bangladesh), Turkish Hope FC (Turkey), Kolkata Parsee Club (India) and Spanish Leftovers (Spain) – and was played from September 29-October 1. Rony scored to put Club 11 ahead in the first quarter of the final as Amigos toiled hard and eventually came back in the second half with a calm header from Mridul. However, Mridul ended on the other side of the scoresheet as his strike during the penalties was deflected by Club 11 goalkeeper Polin, ensuring Club 11 the trophy. Polin, who also made superb saves in the semi-final tie-breakers against Apparel Industry FC, was later named player of the final and the best goalkeeper of the tournament. His teammate Raju played a vital role behind their success and the attacking winger was named the MVP. Captain of Amigos, Imranur Rahman finished as the top-scorer with nine goals while Rohit from India received the best foreign player award. Meanwhile, Turkish Hope clinched the plate category title after beating Kolkata Parsee Club 2-1. The tournament ended with a glittering gala night with Bangladeshi Idol singer Arif singing some popular tracks. Jointly organised by Leo Entertainment and Amigos Sports Management, the tournament was powered by Porcelanosa Nupami BD and co-sponsored by New Auto Galaxy. The tournament also had Sterling Stocks and Securities, Youth Group as associate sponsors, Dhaba as food partner, ITHS as venue partner, Doze as internet partner and Dhaka Tribune as media partner.