xtratime Logo

[caption id="attachment_50201" align="aligncenter" width="580"] President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee shaking hands with the Mohun Bagan footballers today. Image Source: Facebook[/caption] Kolkata: Mohun Bagan tasted their first derby victory of the season in the presence of the President, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee. The Green and Maroon brigade defeated their arch-rivals by a score line of 1-0. The Mariners took the lead in the dying minutes of the game by virtue of a penalty. The goal was converted from the spot by Debanjan Chakraborty. Former footballers Manaranjan Bhattacharya, Tarun Dey and Amit Bhadra were present to witness the derby. The president of the nation organizes a rural football tournament every year in the Jangipur Loksabha in the honour of the late Kamada Kinkar Mukherjee. Yesterday was the inauguration of the tournament where the U-19 team of both the Kolkata giants participated. A total of 142 teams participated in this tournament this year, which is huge compared to the number of teams who participated last year. The tournament would be spanned over 11 blocks. The final would be held in January. Mr. Pranab Mukherjee sat and enjoyed the whole match played between the Kolkata outfits whose aim is to bring out the best of the players from the rural origin. This initiative was taken when Mukherjee was the finance minister of the nation. The President will also be present during the final which is scheduled to be held in January.