India pipped Nepal 2-1 in the final to clinch the first Saff U-15 Championship at the Anfa Complex grounds in Satdobato on Sunday.

India rallied from a goal down to disappoint the home crowd. Birjesh Chaudhary had provided Nepal the 39th minute from the penalty spot.

The hosts were awarded the spot kick after Ranjan Pun was tripped inside the area by Moranngthem Thoiba Singh. Nepal coach Sunil Shrestha said their fragile defence and inability to apply finishing touch up front cost Nepal the match. 

Substitute Lalrokima equalised for the visitors 14 minutes after resumption. The Indian forward struck an unstoppable shot that hit the upper bar and into the net after cutting past two Nepali defenders.

Indian skipper Vikram Pratap Singh, who was named the best player of the tournament, struck the winner. Singh rounded up two defenders inside the zone after being fed by Givson Singh Moiranghtem and unleashed a powerful low shot to silence local crowd. 

“We should have done better in defence after taking the lead,” said Nepal Shrestha. “Overall I have no complaints over the performance of my players, they played really well throughout the tournament.” Nepal had relatively fewer shots on goal to that of their touring opponents. Despite that Shrestha still rued on the missed chances. 

“We had several scoring chances but our finishing was not up to mark,” said the Nepal coach adding that the tournament was really helpful in preparing for the AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers to be held on September 18-24.

Nepal will host Group ‘D’ Qualifiers consisting India, Palestine and Iraq. The 10 group winners and five best runners up will make to the final stage of the tournament to be held next year. 

India coach Bibiano Fernandes termed Nepal as a tough opponent and believed that they (Nepal) will be a better team by the time the AFC U-16 Qualifiers kicks off. “We kept our nerves despite trailing by a goal.

For us, the tournament has been a sound preparation ahead of the AFC U-16 Qualifiers. We will try to keep the momentum until the Qualifiers,” said Fernandes adding that his side will have three-week training camp in Qatar before arriving to Nepal again for the Qualifiers.

Although the biennial tournament was held for the first time as the U-15 event, it is merely a continuation of the previously held U-16 tournament in 2011, 2013 and 2015.