India finished in third place in the Middle East and Africa Zone of the FIFAe Nations Online Qualifiers on Sunday, narrowly missing out on a place in the FIFAe Nations Cup 2021, which features 24 of the world's best eNational teams.
Terrific displays over the first two days saw the eTigers -- 18-year-old Charanjot Singh from Chandigarh and 20-year-old Siddh Chandarana from Mumbai -- make their way to the 'Winner Final' on Sunday, where they went up against Qatar, with the winner of the tie moving to the final and getting the coveted FIFAe Nations Cup berth.
Siddh (Jenasidfc) lost out 3-2 to Aleidx33 in the first game on Xbox but Charanjot (Charanjot12) fought back with a 2-1 win over Qatar's AaMeghessib. However, in the last game of the Best-of-3 match-up, Siddh went down 4-1 to Aleidx33.
However, with the knockouts being played in a double-elimination format, the eTigers had another opportunity to make it through to the final as they faced Saudi Arabia in the 'Loser Final', which was again played in a Best-of-3 format.
Charanjot lost 4-1 to Tundra Msdossary in the first game and Siddh suffered a narrow defeat against Y2harthi, which saw the Indian side bow out of the tournament and finish in third place of the qualifiers. They will receive a prize of USD 1500 for finishing third.
On Friday, India was placed top of the table after the first three match-ups, remaining unbeaten in all six games. A 1-0 win for Charanjot on Playstation and a 3-3 draw by Siddh on Xbox saw the Indian team pick up four points in the first match-up against Qatar.
The eTigers drew both their matches against Kuwait, earning them two points, and then blanked the UAE in both their games (3-1 and 4-2), earning six points.
The second day began with India going down to South Africa, with Charanjot picking up just the sole point after a draw. In the last group fixture, the eTigers bagged three points thanks to Siddh's 3-2 victory on the Xbox platform as the Indian side finished fourth in the group and moved to the knockouts.
The first game of the knockouts saw the eTigers script a massive upset, defeating table-toppers Saudi Arabia in the first semifinal. Charanjot stunned former World Champion Musaed 'Msdossary' Al Dossary 4-1 in the first game, before Siddh followed it up with a brilliant 4-1 win over y2harthi on Xbox to end Day 2 on a winning note and take India to the 'Winner Final'.
( With inputs from ANI )
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