Pune make way for City Champions

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Pune hosted the City Finals in all the four categories at the Reliance Foundation Youth Sports football tournament here, at the Bharati Vidyapeeth ground. Pune has joined the other six venues who eagerly await the National Championships that take place in Mumbai. J.N Petit School, Indira College of Commerce & Science, and the Senior Girls and Senior Boys of The Bishops School were crowned City Champions on an eventful day.

In the Junior Boys game, J.N Petit took on Indira National School. This game also had an interesting mini-battle, as the coaches for J.N Petit and Indira National School are father and son respectively! It was evident that both the teams were well balanced, as they cancelled each other out from the start of the game. The game seemed to go into half-time with a score line of 0-0, but Abhishek Suryavanshi added a touch of magic with his brilliantly taken free-kick to beat the keeper and give J.N Petit the lead. That was the only time the net was disturbed on both the sides, and the game finally finished in favor of J.N Petit, and a small victory for the senior coach, who showed the value of experience in a crunch game, compared to his junior!

In the Senior Girls game, The Bishops School overcame Sir Parashurambhau College by three goals. It was a similar performance to the one that took place earlier when the two teams faced each other, but this time it looked like Sir Parashurambhau College were better prepared, as they were not completely overrun by their opponents as compared to the first game. That didn’t stop Shivali Shankar from scoring a hat-trick, though, and her efforts saw The Bishops School until the end of the game, eventually being crowned winners.

The Senior Boys of The Bishops School Replicated the Girls performance, as Ashay Bhullar scored a hat-trick for the winning team. Symbiosis College of Arts & Commerce got a consolation goal in the second half, but The Bishops School were already comfortably cruising towards victory by then, and it was only a matter of time till they were adjudged winners. Bhullar was also adjudged Player of the Match for his efforts in the finals game, and he will be hoping to carry on his form to the Nationals.

In the final game of the day, Indira College of Commerce & Science beat Pimpri Chinchwad College Of Engineering by a solitary goal. The goal came in very dramatic fashion, as both the teams looked to head for a penalty shoot-out. But just like the Junior Boys game, an unpredictable free-kick decided the outcome of the game in the first minute of added time, to condemn Pimpri Chinchwad College Of Engineering to a defeat. Indira College of Commerce were crowned champions and will take part in the College Boys Nationals to be held in Mumbai.

Mumbai is the only city remaining to qualify for the finals. The semi-finals take place on the 7th and 8th of December in the city, and will be streamed live on www.rfyouthsports.com, and all the match action updated on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.