Defending champion DYSA Mundgod wins GCM Gold Cup
DHARAMSALA, 10 June: DYSA Mundgod, the defending champion won the 25th Gyalyum Chenmo Memorial Gold Cup((GCMGC/GCM) football tournament after defeating Dhondupling FC in the final match of the tournament played at Upper TCV School ground today.
The Upper TCV School ground was packed to the brim as thousands of Tibetans and non-Tibetan enthusiasts of the ‘beautiful game’ attended the final match while the live webcast of the match was watched by over five thousand others through YouTube and Facebook.
The final match of the most popular sporting event among Tibetans in exile was closely contested between the Dhondupling FC team from Clement Town and DYSA Mundgod.
DYSA Mundgod, the team from south India took the lead on the 16thminute while Dhondupling FC, the team from Northern India equalised on the 33rd minute in the first half.
Both the teams drew blank in the second half and the match ended in a draw in the normal stipulated time.
As both the teams failed to score in the extra time as well, the 25th GCM final was then decided by the penalty shootout, in favour of the DYSA Mundgod after their goalkeeper, Tenzin Samdup’s heroics which saw him save the second and third penalties. He is the goalie of the Tibetan National Team As well as for the Chennai FC team in the Indian super league.
DYSA Mundgod defended the GCM Gold Cup by winning 4-2 on penalties and took home the cup along with the prize money of Rs 1,20,000. Dhondupling FC, the runners up were awarded the cash prize of Rs 1,00,000.
The Prize money for the winner and the runners up were sponsored by Saku Tsang and Jyangter Tharpa Chhoiling Foundation respectively.
DYSA Mundgod’s Tenzin Monlam was adjudged the player of the tournament while Dhondupling Fc’s Temphel Lhundup won the golden boot.
Prior to the GCM Gold Cup final, a girl’s exhibition match was played between upper TCV School and TCV Gopalpur’s girl’s team.
The President of the Central Tibetan Administration Dr Lobsang Sangay attended the final of the tournament as the Chef Guest.
President Sangay commended the Tibetan National Sports Association (TNSA) for successfully holding the tournament for the last 25 years.
“It is difficult to start such tournament and even more difficult to successfully run it for this long,” he said and added, “the participation of the of 23 teams from India, Nepal, United States, Canada and Europe for the tournament reflects the sense of oneness within the Tibetan diaspora.”
The GCM Gold Cup tournament is played annually in the memory of the great mother of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. GCM football tournament was first held in 1981.
Though the tournament was organized by various bodies for more than twenty years, Tibetan National Sports Association (TNSA) took charge of organizing the tournament annually since 2003.
Based on the performance in the GCM tournament, TNSA selects players for the Tibetan National Team which occasionally competes in tournaments held in India as well as foreign countries.
