Sri Lanka Men’s Football Team defeated India after 21 years but failed to book a spot in the semifinal while the Women lost all their matches in a disappointing South Asian Games campaign.
Sri Lanka Men were playing in Group A alongside India and Maldives and got off to a perfect start when they defeated India 1-0 in the opener. Skipper Mohamed Rifnaz scored the winner with an exquisite free-kick from outside the box giving the Islanders the win against their neighbours after 21 years.
The last time they won against India was in the 1995 SAFF Championship Final in Sri Lanka.
However in the second match Sri Lanka lost 3-1 to Maldives. Ahamed Nashid gave Maldives the lead in the 10th minute and Ansar Ibrahim doubled the lead in the 28th minute. Ibrahim scored his second in the 58th minute before Rifnaz pulled one back in the 61st minute but his goal was not enough to mount a comeback.
Maldives needed to win or draw against India for Sri Lanka to have a chance to go through to the semifinal but India played brilliantly to win 3-2. Udanta Singh scored for the winners in the 4th minute but Muruthala Adnan equalized in the 9th. Pritam Kotal took back the lead two minutes later but an own goal by Kotal before half time made it 2-2. The only goal of the second half went to Singh in the 59th minute.
In the other group Nepal decimated Bhutan 5-0 with Nawayug Shrestha scoring a hat-trick while Bhutan drew against Bangladesh 1-1. Bangladesh bounced back to win 2-1 against Nepal.
In the semifinals India dominated Bangladesh to win 3-0 and Nepal won 4-3 in a thrilling match against Maldives in extra-time. Anjan Bista and Shrestha gave Nepal a 2-0 lead into half time but Nashid and Hamza made it 2-2 at full time. Hasan Naiz gave Maldives the lead in the 115th minute but Shrestha exploded to score two more in the dying seconds.
In the final Nepal defeated India 2-1 with Shrestha scoring again and Bangladesh won 5-4 on penalties it ended 2-2 against Maldives. Nawayug Shrestha was named as the best player of the tournament.
Women’s Football
Sri Lanka Women lost all four of their matches to India, Maldives, Nepal and Bangladesh.
Bangladesh won 2-1 with Srimoti Sarkar scoring a brace while the only goal for Sri Lanka was scored by Chalani Ekanayake. Sri Lanka were hammered by India 5-0 and 4-0 by Nepal.
Surprisingly Sri Lanka women lost 2-1 to Maldives whom they defeated 3-0 just a few months back at home. Fadhuwa Zahir scored in the 6th and 45th minutes while Hasara Dilrangi scored deep into injury time.
In the Gold Medal match India defeated Nepal 4-0 with Kamala Devi becoming the top scorer. Bangladesh won the Bronze Medal.
