One of the year’s eagerly anticipated sporting events for yuvaks finally arrived on Saturday 5 June 2010. The fourth Yagnapurush Cup provided a fun day out for everyone. This year, the venue was changed to Goals Soccer Centre in Birmingham, providing a more central location for teams travelling from around the country.

In total, 20 Yuvak Mandal teams participated in the tournament this year, which was inaugurated with the traditional deep pragatya in the presence of Shri Harikrishna Maharaj.

The format of the tournament was modified this year with the inaugural Pragji Cup. This allowed teams who were knocked out in the initial group games to automatically enter this tournament to further increase their chances of winning a trophy.

The tournament began with tremendous enthusiasm and competitiveness, but above all, was alive with fun, teamwork and sportsmanship throughout. With a high quality of football on display for all to enjoy, the support for the teams was equally good.

The two finals were played out between Ashton and Leicester C (Pragji Cup) and BAPS Maintenance and Harrow (Yagnapurush Cup). After some twists and turns, Ashton emerged as winners of the first ever Pragji Cup.

The final of the Yagnapurush Cup was tense and filled with excitement. BAPS Maintenance scored the first goal against the favourites Harrow. However, Harrow equalised just before the end of the first half. By the end of the second half, both teams had scored two goals each. The match went into extra time, at the end of which there was still no breakthrough, leading the two teams into a nail-biting penalty shootout. BAPS Maintenance emerged as the eventual victors and were therefore crowned 2010 winners of the Yagnapurush Cup.

The successful tournament concluded with the closing ceremony, held collectively in the presence of Harikrishna Maharaj.

RESULTS