The winner will receive a cash prize of Rs. 1.1 million and the runner-up will receive a prize of Rs. 5 million.
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Former champions Jhapa-11 and home team Samrat Sporting Club will clash for the Virat Gold Cup title on Saturday. The match will be played at the Shahid Stadium in Biratnagar from 7 pm, according to the organizers.
In the pre-match conference held on Friday before the final clash, both teams said that they would enter the field with a claim to win the title. If the home team Samrat wins the title, the Virat Gold Cup will have a new champion. Jhapa, on the other hand, has already won the title.
Samrat Sporting, which has the support of the home team and the audience, wants to achieve historical success in its first participation. Jhapa had previously won the title by defeating Tribhuvan Army Club in 2071 BS. This time too, Jhapa has set its journey to the final by beating two strong departmental teams, Army and Nepal Police Club, and is preparing to enter the field with high morale.
Former FIFA referee Kiran Giri's team Samrat Sporting, which participated in the competition for the first time, is also in high spirits as they defeated the visiting team Birsamunda Sports Academy of India in the quarterfinals and the league champion team Church Boys United in the semifinals by the same 3-1 goal difference.
Although the coaches and captains of both teams said in the pre-match conference that they would win the title, they did not mention anything about the strategy for the final match. Samrat coach Paras Chaudhary said that the home field and the audience are the main weapons of his team. Although the players could not be set in the first match, they came close to the title because of the excellent coordination in the second match, Chaudhary said that this coordination will continue in the final as well. He said, 'It is a great achievement for us to reach the final in our first participation. Even though Jhapa has foreign players, our players are technically excellent. We will create history by winning the title on home soil.'
Samrat captain Ashok Khawas said that they will take the field after improving some of the finishing weaknesses seen in the semifinals. Known as an experienced captain, Khawas has won various Gold Cup titles while captaining various clubs in Morang, including Samrat. Under his captaincy, Sagarmatha Youth Club has won the Itahari Gold Cup title for the second time in a row. Under Khawas' captaincy, his team became the runner-up in the 24th edition of the Budhasubba Gold Cup and the 15th edition of the Itahari Gold Cup.
Jhapa-11 coach Ganesh Khadka said that he wants to repeat the title he won as a player as a coach. 'I myself have the experience of winning the title while playing on this same field, now I want to repeat that history as a coach,' Khadka said, 'We have three foreign players. We do not consider Samrat weak, they have brought players from famous clubs, so the competition will be interesting.'
Saturday's winner will receive a cash prize of Rs 1.1 million and the runner-up will receive Rs 5 million. Similarly, the organizer has stated that the best player will be awarded Rs 51,000 and the best in each discipline will be awarded Rs 15,000 each.
Samrat coach Paras Chaudhary, captain Ashok Khawas and Jhapa captain Pujan Thapa and coach Ganesh Khadka respectively, raising the Virat Gold Cup trophy before the final match. Photo: Arjun Subedi/Kantipur
