A Glorious Win for Tashiling Football Club

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By Tsering Wangdue / June 20, 2014;

The cup
Photo: facebook/gcmgc

The 20^th Gyalyum Chenmo Memorial Gold cup (GCMGC), the biggest football tournament in exile Tibetan society, finished with glorious win by Tashiling Football Club, Pokhara, Nepal who beat Dhondupling Football Club, Clement Town, Dehradun in India to win the championship.

The first match kicked off on June 4. Twenty seven teams from different part of India and Nepal took part, with 21 teams qualifying for the final tournament held at at the Dhondupling Tibetan settlement in Dehradun, North India. The teams were divided into 7 pools, the best team from each pool going forward to the quarterfinal stage.

A friendly football match was also held between the Tibetan national women’s team and the Dehradun Football Academy women’s team. Despite an impressive display of football skills and sportsmanship, the Tibetan women’s team lost 5-2.

The final match
Photo: facebook/gcmgc

The tournament finale was on June 15, with Tashiling beating defending champions Dhondupling by 2 goals to win the title after 11 years. Norbu Jinpa from Tashiling FC was awarded the best player of the tournament, scoring 9 goals. The award for Fair Play went to Mundgod FC from the South India Tibetan settlement.

The GCMGC was started in 1981 in memory of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s much-loved mother, and has been organised by the Tibetan National Sports Association since 2003.