Lensmen triumph

Asomiya Pratidin go down 2-0; Venugopal wins in chess

Inter-media meet

The triumphant Assam Photo Journalists’ Association men after winning the final at Nehru Stadium in Guwahati on Sunday.  Guwahati, May 25 : Assam Photo Journalists’ Association retained the Leo Advertising Harendra Nath Baruah Trophy football tournament title defeating Asomiya Pratidin by 2-0 goals in the final of the four-day event, organised as part of the ongoing 1st Airtel North East Media Sports Festival, at Nehru Stadium here today. Nripen Rajbongshi drew first blood in the early minutes of the first half and the lensmen led 1-0 at breather. Pitambar Newar consolidated the lead with another goal in the second half. The determined lensmen prevailed over Asomiya Pratidin with their agility and fitness while the latter’s defence was off-colour today and failed to counter the lensmen’s onslaught. On Saturday, the Pratidin men defeated Shillong Press Club 5-2 via tiebreakers after the regulation time ended in a 1-1 draw. The lensmen had defeated DY365 by 3-1 goals en route to the final. In chess tournament that concluded at Tarun Ram Phookan Indoor Stadium here, M.A. Venugopal of Shillong Press Club emerged champion with full six points in the six-round Swiss League tournament. He defeated Manoranjan Bari of Dainik Janambhumi in the top board of the last round. Diganta Saharia of Janasadharan finished second with better progressive score than Mridumoloy Lukhurakhan of The Assam Tribune. They tallied 4.5 points each. Lukhurakhan finished third. Fours players — Manoranjan Bari, Imtiaz Ahmed (The Telegraph), Kalyan Das (Doordarshan Kendra, Guwahati) and Nitam Singh (Dainik Batori) — earned four points each to be placed fourth to seventh respectively on the basis of progressive score. Altogether 27 players participated in the two-day event. Tomorrow, the Badaruddin Ahmed Trophy table tennis tournament will be held at the ABITA Centenary Indoor Stadium here.