Bidyashagar Singh scored his twelfth aim of the I-League 2020-21 on the final day of the league in opposition to Gokulam Kerala FC, which put TRAU FC within the lead and in pole place for the title. However, the hearts of the Red Pythons and their followers had been damaged because the Malabarians got here storming again within the second half to blitz their option to prime spot and carry the coveted trophy.
Despite the gut-wrenching loss, the aspect from Manipur can take nice delight of their marketing campaign – particularly Bidyashagar, who created historical past by turning into the primary Indian participant to complete as outright top-scorer within the historical past of the I-League and in addition bagged the ‘Hero of the League’ award for his performances.
In a chat with i-league.org, he mentioned, “I’m very happy to win the Highest Goal Scorer and the ‘Hero of the League’ awards and it is a very proud achievement for me and my family.”
“For me, it has been a great season with many memorable moments, especially the consecutive hat-tricks. To be the only Indian to be outright top scorer in the I-League and create history is an amazing feeling.”
Only one Indian had completed because the I-League prime scorer earlier than – Sunil Chhetri for Bengaluru FC within the 2013-14 season, the place he scored 14 objectives and shared the award with Salgaocar’s Darryl Duffy.
Since then, Bidyashagar can also be the one Indian to have registered 10 or extra objectives in a single marketing campaign, with Jobby Justin’s nine-goal haul for East Bengal in 2018-19 being second-best.
He additionally turns into simply the fourth Indian to complete as prime scorer in a single season of the National Football League or I-League, becoming a member of an elite group consisting of Bhaichung Bhutia (JCT, 14 objectives), Raman Vijayan (FC Kochin, 10 objectives) and Sunil Chhetri (Bengaluru FC, 14 objectives).
The 23-year-old averaged 3.7 pictures per recreation within the I-League 2020-21 and within the championship part, he scored a whopping seven objectives in 5 video games – together with two consecutive hat-tricks in opposition to Mohammedan Sporting and Real Kashmir FC.
He additionally discovered the web within the last spherical match in opposition to Gokulam and admitted that whereas the ultimate end result was ‘disappointing’, his staff’s show over the course of the marketing campaign makes him ‘proud’.
“In the end, we were minutes away from winning the league title and the disappointment from the last match is still there. However, all in all, it was a very good season for me and my whole team. I am proud of what we achieved this season,” he quipped.
Bidyashagar, who had first joined TRAU FC as a youth participant on the age of 16, expressed his gratitude to his staff and the league.
He acknowledged, “I would like to thank my family, teammates and coaches for their continuous support and the federation for organising this tournament despite the multiple challenges and providing a safe environment for us to play and compete.”
