Santosh Trophy: Kerala emerges champion
Kolkata: Kerala beat Bengal via the tie-breaker to claim its sixth Santosh Trophy title at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Sunday. In a keenly-contested final, Kerala missed umpteen chances to let the match remain undecided at 2-2 after extra time.
However, the Satheevan Balan-coached side rode on two saves by keeper V. Midhun to win the penalty shoot-out 4-2 and emerge champion after 14 years.
Kerala banked on its robust gameplan to keep Bengal at bay in the first half.
The host showed aggression but Ankit Mukherjee and Jitin Murmu failing to capitalise on good chances.
While Kerala marked the Bengal players tightly, the home team valued ball possession.
Nevertheless, Kerala showed its perfected art of scoring off counter-attacks. S. Seesan precise long ball set up an unmarked M.S. Jithin, who ran unchallenged into the Bengal box before beating goalkeeper Ranajit Majumder in the 19th minute. Bengal's steady moves earned it a few opportunities but hit a compact wall built by Rahul V. Raj, Vibin Thomas and S. Lijo.
Dead-ball specialist Tirthankar Sarkar's aerial attempt was collected by Midhun and Bidyashagar Singh's effort from close was saved by an alert G. Sreerag.
Kerala found a few more chances, but Jithin Gopalan could not connect one from the edge of the box and V.K. Afdal shot over the bar to waste a superb move crafted by P.C. Anurag on the right and M.S. Jithin on the left.
A wasteful Kerala allowed Bengal to fight back in the second half as Anurag missed a sitter after receiving a fine pass from M.S. Jithin.
Bengal’s efforts bore fruit in the 68th minute. Substitute Rajon Barman worked his way up on the right, squared it up inside the area for Murmu to strike high into the net.
Even as Bengal maintained pressure, Kerala had its chances. However, Jithin Gopalan could not score off a rebound while Afdal hurried on a shot and the action stretched into extra time.
After Bengal lost Barman to a red card for crashing into the rival ’keeper while crafting a move, Kerala scored through Thomas. He rose high to head in a Jestin George cross from the left.
Tirthankar's low left-footer free-kick from just outside the box beat Midhun in the dying moments to take the match into the shoot-outs.
The result: Kerala 2 (M.S. Jithin 19, Vibin Thomas 116) bt Bengal 2 (Jiten Murmu 68, Tirthankar Sarkar 120); Shoot-out: [Kerala 4 (Rahul V. Raj, Jithin Gopalan, Jestin George, S. Seesan) bt Bengal 2 (Tirthankar, Sanchayan Samadder).
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Sambit Patra's remarks on Lord Jagannath draw flak, says it was 'slip of tongue'
New Delhi, May 20: The Congress, BJD and AAP on Monday accused BJP leader and its Puri candidate Sambit Patra of insulting Lord Jagannath and hurting the sentiments of devotees with his remarks, which Patra said were a "slip of the tongue".
The Congress shared a video of Patra speaking in Odiya and slammed his remarks that "Mahaprabhu Lord Shri Jagannath is a devotee of Narendra Modi", demanding that Prime Minister Modi apologise for the same. Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik also condemned Patra's comments and asked the "BJP to keep the Lord above any political discourse".
Amid uproar over his words, Patra took to X and said he spoke to multiple media channels after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s roadshow in Puri where he mentioned that "Modi ji is an ardent Bhakt of Shri Jagannath Mahaprabhu .. by mistake during one of the bytes I pronounced just the opposite (sic)".
"I know you too know and understand this... Sir let’s not make an issue out of a nonexistent issue... we all have “slip of the tongue sometimes”," Patra said in response to a post by Patnaik.
But the opposition parties latched on to the remarks, denouncing them as an "insult" to Lord Jagannath.
"BJP leader Sambit Patra saying that Mahaprabhu Lord Shri Jagannath is a devotee of Narendra Modi. This is a grave insult to Mahaprabhu. This statement has hurt the faith of crores of devotees," the Congress said on its X handle.
"Sambit Patra, who is immersed in Modi Bhakti, should not have committed this sin. Narendra Modi should apologise for this disgusting statement," the party said.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said it reinforces "our charge that a BJP, drunk with power, will not even spare our Gods, let alone India’s people".
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also said in a post on X in Hindi, "When the prime minister starts considering himself as an emperor and his courtiers start considering him as God, then it is clear that the downfall of the 'Lanka of sin' is near."
"Who gave a handful of BJP people the right to hurt the sentiments of crores of people? This ego is becoming the cause of their destruction," Gandhi said.
BJD leader and Odisha CM Patnaik in a post on X said, "Mahaprabhu Shree Jagannatha is the Lord of Universe. Calling Mahaprabhu a bhakt of another human being is an insult to the Lord. This has hurt the sentiments and demeaned the faith of crores of Jagannatha bhaktas and Odias across the world."
"The Lord is the greatest Symbol of Odia Asmita. Calling Mahaprabhu a bhakt of another human being is totally condemnable.
"I strongly denounce the statement made by the BJP Puri Lok Sabha candidate and I appeal to the BJP to keep the Lord above any political discourse. By this, you have deeply hurt Odia Asmita and this will be remembered and condemned by the people of Odisha for a very long time," Patnaik said.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleged that the remarks by Patra reflect the "arrogance" of BJP leaders.
"They have started thinking that they are above God. This is the height of arrogance. Calling God bhakt of Modi ji is an insult to God."
Congress in-charge for Odisha, Ajoy Kumar also said in a post, "The country and Odisha will not tolerate this insult of Lord Jagannath ji!."
"Will the media ask any question to Sambit Patra? Where are those journalists with the 7 pm agenda? Where have those Hindutva organisations gone," he asked.
जब प्रधानमंत्री खुद को शहंशाह और दरबारी उन्हें भगवान समझने लगें तो मतलब साफ है कि पाप की लंका का पतन नज़दीक है।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 20, 2024
करोड़ों लोगों की आस्था को चोट पहुंचाने का अधिकार मुट्ठी भर भाजपा के लोगों को आखिर किसने दिया?
यह अहंकार ही उनके विनाश का कारण बन रहा है।
Naveen Ji Namaskar!
— Sambit Patra (Modi Ka Parivar) (@sambitswaraj) May 20, 2024
I gave number of bytes today to multiple media channels after the massive success of Shri Narendra Modiji’s Road Show in Puri today, everywhere I mentioned that Modi ji is an ardent “Bhakt” of Shri Jagannath Mahaprabhu ..by mistake during one of the bytes I… https://t.co/6Q1Kuj5E6O
