AIFF Media Team 

BHAVNAGAR, GUJARAT: Four debutants — FC Bushahr (Himachal Pradesh), Coramandal FC (Andhra Pradesh), Ganganagar City FC (Rajasthan) and Young Hearts FC (Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu) — made their AIFF Futsal Club Championship bow on Day 2 at the SAG Indoor Stadium in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, on Thursday, June 18, 2026. 

FC Bushahr staved off a strong challenge from Coramandal FC to record a 9-5 victory to open their Group C account. In a Group D match, Ganganagar City FC got the better of Young Hearts FC  5-3 at the end of a closely-fought contest. 

FC Bushahr 9 (Clinton D’Souza 9’ 25’ 31’ Mervin Stephen 11’ 22’ Lakshay 14’ Virender Singh 25’ 35’ Shahbaz Rogangar 36’)
beat
Coramandal FC 5 (Hafis AM 9’ Muhammed Basil 21’ Shelton Paul 28’ Eswar Prasad 31’ Syed Suhail Pasha 33’)

Playing the patent Futsal formation of an anchor, two wingers and a pivot to near perfection, FC Bushahr got the better of a fighting Coramandal FC 9-5 after leading 3-1 at the breather. In fact, there was a glut of goals in the second half as the winners netted six times more and the losers scored four, reducing the margin twice in quick succession, but could do no more at the end of a brisk encounter.

It was the lanky Clinton Rosario D’Sousa who caught the eye with his individual and combined play. Clinton did well to give his team the lead in the ninth minute, pushing home after a solo run down the right. But Hafis AM restored parity immediately as he struck a rising corner, and the ball hit the underside of the crossbar and rolled in. 

However, a fine move initiated by Craig D’Souza saw him find Shahbaz Rogangar deep inside the opponent's area. The latter squared to Mervin Stephen, who slotted home from close to restore the lead. Clinton was in the act again as he dribbled down the right and forced the defence to move away before squaring for Lakshay to finish off the move with a crisp right footer. 

Hafis pushed forward, and Muhammed Basil sent a scorching right footer flying into the top corner to reduce the deficit. But Mervin, Clinton and Virender scored in quick succession, capping some fine fast-paced moves to make it 6-2 for Bushahr.

Coramandal were in no mood to give up as Shelton Paul converted a neat pass from Hafis to make it 6-3. As pressure piled on, Bushahr again stepped up the momentum as Clinton got his third goal with a clinical right-footed finish to the top left corner. But Eswar Prasad came on, drilled past the field and placed home to pull another back. It was 7-5 soon as Syed Suhail Pasha took from Shelton to fire home in the 33rd minute. 

The Bushahr boys struck two more as goalkeeper Anand Parashar picked up Virender Singh with a long throw. The latter sprinted in and placed past goalkeeper Rahul on the run to make it 8-5 to calm their nerves. Shahbag Rogangar then produced a fierce shot on the turn to make it 9-5 with three minutes to go.

Ganganagar City FC 5 (Ankit Ashish Rana 13’ Kishan Singh 14’ 29’ Sourabh Sharma 15’ 25’ (OG) 36’)
beat
Young Hearts FC 3 (Dulfukhar Ali 1’ Jay Halpati 39’)

Conceding a shock goal within 30 seconds of the start, Ganganagar City FC staged a fine rally to upstage Young Hearts FC 5-3 at the end of an even contest. 

Hardly had the players settled down when Young Hearts moved down the left as Don Remedies sent a long pass for Dulfukhar Ali to place home on the run from the left, giving goalkeeper Axay no chance whatsoever. 

But making good use of rolling substitutions to conserve their players’ energies, Ganganagar City kept possession for long spells with some one-touch passing and positional play. They moved around the arena with fluent movements but came up against a stubborn defence. 

Young Hearts tried to wriggle free and attempted some first-time long rangers after snatching the ball or intercepting moves, but Axay was not to be beaten.

Ganganagar’s efforts bore fruit in the 13th minute as Aditya Chahar put Ankit Ashish Rana in possession on the right and the latter made no mistake with a firm shot. They took the lead just a minute later as Chahar again turned provider. He sent a long pass through the middle, and Kishan Singh diverted the ball into the net past Prayush Raju Halpati in the goal. 

The 2-1 lead buoyed them further up, and they struck another minute later as Rahul Halpati gave the ball away deep inside his area and Sourabh Sharma rammed it home in a trice.

Trailing 1-3, Young Hearts were unlucky not to get another goal as Dulfukhar Ali drew the defence away to the right and pushed for Rahul Halpati, but his shot came off the left upright.

Yet, their reducer came six minutes after the break as Sourabh Sharma scored an own goal, diverting Jay Nitesh Halpati’s stiff centre to the roof of the net.

The teams then flat-out, and the exchanges were crisp and fast-paced, though the goalkeepers held firm at both ends. However, Ganganagar made it 4-2 as Kishan and Sourabh traded passes before Kishan managed to push it home. Much against the run of play, Sourabh made more than amends for his own goal when he let fly a scorcher from just inside the centre line as the ball rocketed low into the far post. At 5-2, Ganganagar breathed a lot more freely. In a last-ditch effort, Young Hearts managed to force a move, and Jay Nitesh Halpati slammed the ball high into the roof of the net with a firm left footer. It ended at 5-3 as Ganganagar City FC picked up full points.