19th Aaha Rara Gold Cup opening day: APF defeated Sahara Club on home ground

eAdarsha.com Reporter
Apr 03, 2021
saraha-pic-by-durga

Bijay Nepal, Pokhara, April 3: The 19th edition of Aaha-Rara Gold Cup Football Tournament organized by Sahara Club Pokhara has started at Pokhara Stadium from today.

In the inaugural match of the tournament, Nepal APF Club defeated Sahara Club Pokhara.

The home team, which played a goal-less draw, could not cope towards the end of the second half and handed over the victory to the departmental team.

Ashish Lama scored a goal in the 87th minute of the match to take the team to the semifinal. Last year, APF was eliminated from the first round after falling victim to a tiebreaker with Jhapa-11 in the second quarterfinal.

Man-of-the-match Ashish scored a goal on a corner kick by Pradip Lama on today’s match.

Along with the victory, APF will compete in the first semi-final with the the team who wins between Sankata and Manang Marshyangdi on April 7. Sunday’s game will be between Machhindra Club and Cameroon’s African Route Association, according to the organizers.

A total of eight teams are participating in the competition which will run till April 1o. Among them are Nepal Oil Corporation Manang Marshyangdi Club, Nepal Police Club, Three Star Club, Nepal APF Club, Sankata Club, Machhindra Club, African Route Association, Cameroon and organizer Sahara Club Pokhara, said club president Keshav Bahadur Thapa.

The winner of the 18th edition was Manang and the runner-up was Nepal Police Club.