Nabarangpur, 27th Sept 2025: With the support of Nabarangpur Town Football Academy, the first-ever night football final was held at the local college football ground in Nabarangpur district. At the inaugural event, distinguished guests including Prahlad Tripathi, Editor of the District Sports Association, M. Bala Krishna Rao, Vice President, and Editor Manoj Kumar Pattnayak encouraged the players.
Before the start of the Dashahara Cup final, to promote women’s football, a friendly match was held between Nabarangpur City women’s football team and Majhi Gud Balashram women’s football team. The city team defeated Balashram 3-0.
Similarly, another friendly match was held between senior football veterans and Town Football Academy, where the Town Football Academy team won 2-0 against the senior team.
Finally, in a highly competitive Dashahara Cup football final, the Koraput district’s Umari team defeated the Korchamal team 2-0 to claim the Dashahara Cup trophy.
The event included prize distribution. Among the guests were Sushant Kumar Behera, Vice President of Papadahandi Block, District Sports Association Editor Manoj Kumar Pattnayak, District Kinnar Association Editor Chumuki Kinnar, senior sportsman Dilip Kumar Behera, marathon runner Chita Ranjan Patra, Nibibabu Tripathi, President of Paribartan Foundation, and social worker Srikanth Mishra. They presented the winning team with the trophy and a cash prize of ₹15,000, and the runners-up received trophies and ₹10,000, recognizing the players for their achievements.
The District Sports Association’s athletic editor Jyoti Paricha managed the award distribution ceremony. Due to the successful organization of this large-scale football tournament, the district residents congratulated Ashok Patra, the head of the Football Academy.
It is noteworthy that a total of 16 teams from the undivided Koraput district participated in this tournament. This was the first time that a night final match was held, drawing a huge crowd of spectators from nearby areas.
The final match was officiated by senior referees from Koraput district including Sanjay Jena, Vijay Nayak, Lachhu Bhumia, and Raila Utra.