The Empowerment Cup 2025 came to an end as Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Siliguri emerged victorious after defeating United Kolkata Sports Club (UKSC) 2–0 in the grand finale at Bhawanipore Club Dakshineswar Young Men Association Ground on Sunday.
The 16-team, 11-a-side women’s football tournament, which began on the 22nd of this month, featured an excellent display of football, highlighted by top-class goals, saves and overall skills.
Both teams booked their place in the final through contrasting routes in the semi-finals. SSB powered past JSSPS Ranchi with a commanding 3–0 win, while UKSC battled through a tightly fought contest against Nita FA Cuttack, eventually advancing courtesy of a narrow 1–0 victory. The Ranchi side later won the third-place match against Nita FA.
The final started with SSB taking an early lead through a 30-yard freekick. From there on, UKSC pushed hard to break through the SSB defence, but their forwards fell short each time. Though the Kolkata side came close to an equaliser on a few occasions, the SSB backline stood tall throughout.
A late goal from the Siliguri side sealed the deal, and minutes later, the final whistle confirmed the Army side as champions of the first edition of the RevSportz Empowerment Cup.
In the bronze-medal match, JSSPS Ranchi edged past Nita FA by 1–0.
The grand occasion was graced by several former footballers and government delegates. Kuntala Ghosh Dastidar, Bikash Paji, Sumit Mukherjee, and Pratap Senapati were among those who encouraged the players by presenting awards. Former West Bengal sports minister and current MLA Shri Madan Mitra was also present on the occasion.
RevSportz co-founder and COO Sharmistha Gooptu addressed the crowd. “The RevSportz vision has always been of equality, and we’ve always emphasised holistic coverage of sports — be it men’s, women’s or para-sports,” she said. “The Empowerment Cup is a testament to our contribution to the Indian sporting ecosystem.”
Medals were presented to the second runner-up JSSPS Ranchi, as well as the runner-up and champions by the event guests, while the cash prizes — Rs. 50,000, Rs. 75,000 and Rs. 1,00,000 — were presented by Gooptu on behalf of RevSportz.
Individual awards were given for Player of the Tournament, Best Goalkeeper and Highest Goal-Scorer. Along with their trophies, each winner received a goodie bag from Ten-XU, a sports apparel brand backed by Sachin Tendulkar.
The sponsors were thanked by the evening’s anchor, Agnijit Sen. “Without their support, this initiative wouldn’t have been possible,” he said.
As a part of a conversation made during the press conference of the event on November 20, at the Calcutta Sports Journalists’ Club, between RevSportz editor-in-chief, Boria Majumdar and the CSJC president, Suven Raha, 30-football-kits were presented to the CSJC Football Academy from RevSportz.
Thanking all our sponsors:
Title Partner — Tata Steel
Associate Partners — Wow! Momo, ThumsUp, Bharat Serums and Vaccines Limited, Ageas Federal, Food n Wellness, Lalbaba Rice, Getafix Solutions, Sangbad Pratidin, SSEN, Ten-XU, Globe.
Special Thanks to Bhawanipore Club and Dakshineswar Young Men Association members for their support with the ground.
Awardees:
Highest Goal Scorer (Joint): Sanjana Oraon (JSSPS Ranchi), Sunita Munda (SSB) — 5 goals each
Player of the Tournament: Kai Rumi (UKSC)
Best Goalkeeper: Manju (SSB)
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