Air India beats Union Bank of India in final
February 20, 2018, Mumbai
Defending champion Air India struck twice at the death to overcome a spirited Union Bank of India 2-1 in the 11th RCF-Nadkarni Cup football tournament final, played at the picturesque RCF Colony ground, Chembur.
The winners received the Nadkarni Cup and a cheque of Rs. 1 lakh. The bank side went home with the runner-up trophy and Rs. 50,000. UBI striker Ranjeet Pandre was adjudged ‘Player of the final’ and received Rs. 10,000.
UBI produced a stirring show and almost pulled off a win. After a barren first half, it took the lead via a snap goal by in-form Scott D’Souza. UBI defended well before a momentary loss of concentration allowed to Air India to score the equaliser two minutes from the final whistle through Pramod Pandey. Rinaldo Fernandes scored the winner in the fourth minute of additional time to secure the win for AI, winner for the second successive year.
The result: Air India 2 (Pramod Pandey, Rinaldo Fernandes) bt Union Bank of India 1 (Scott D’Souza) .
Athira to lead state spikers
Maharashtra will field a 11-member women’s team for the 66th senior National volleyball championship, to be held at Kozhikode (Kerala) from February 21 to 28.
Captained by C. Athira, the squad was shortlisted after a camp at M.L. Dahanukar College ground, Vile Parle, conducted by the Maharashtra Volleyball Association. The state girls are in Group B (Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana being the other sides) and will play a league-cum-knockout format.
The team: C. Athira (captain), Hiteshi Chhakara, N.M. Bincy, Rimple Devi, K. Aswani, Akhila Benny, Bhagyalaxmi, Swati Shinde, Rashmi Kadam, Kajal More. Lincy. Chief coach: Viral Shah. Assistant coaches: Atul Sawdawkar, Parthasarathi Kulkarni .
GMP rallies to post win
Air India-B and Greater Mumbai Police recorded hard-fought victories from their respective opening matches of the MHAL senior division league, played at MHAL-Mahindra Stadium, Churchgate.
AI, comprising several internationals and Olympians, encountered quite a strong challenge from Ave Maria SC before snatching a narrow 3-2 win. Anil Aldrin, Kishore Biddaiah and Girish Pimple scored a goal each for AI while Ave Maria scored through Koljit Singh and Vijay Thapa.
Greater Mumbai Police struck twice in the second half through Vibransinh Kalse and Abhishek Apat to seal a win against Bombay Republicans-B, which reduced the margin through a late goal scored by Inderjeet Singh.
The results: Senior division: Greater Mumbai Police 2 (Vibransinh Kalse, Abhishek Apat) bt Bombay Republicans-B 1 (Inderjeet Singh); Sea View SC 7 (S. Rahul 3, Akshay Antil, Gufran Shaikh, D. Kartik, Mohit Antil) bt Companeroes SC 1 Sushil Ekka); Air India-B 3 (Anil Aldrin, Kishore Biddaiah, Girish Pimple) bt Ave Maria SC 2 (Koljit Singh, Vijay Thapa) .
Slum Soccer from February 20
The Slum Soccer 2018 edition for the National Inclusion Cup will be held from February 20 to 23, featuring 48 teams in the men’s and women’s category at the Tiger Play ground, Andheri. The four-day tournament, held in Mumbai for the second straight year, will feature 480 players, spread across 24 sides each in both categories.
Twenty-five probables, to be shortlisted after the final by the talent identification team, will receive training in football and social skills to eventually form the national men’s and women’s squads for the 16th Homeless World Cup.
BPGC emerges inter-club golf champion
Bombay Presidency Golf Club (BPGC) golfers produced a collective performance to emerge champion in the 22nd edition of the Grover Zampa Vineyard inter-club golf championship at the Poona Golf Club, Pune, on Sunday. BPGC last won the event in 2014.
The scores: BPGC 40, US Club 35.5, Poona Golf Club 19.5, Willingdon Sports Club 19 .
Hat-trick for Killinger
Raunak Killinger notched up a hat-trick to power JMJ Sports Club to a thumping 7-0 win against Hearts FC in a second division match of the MDFA league at the St. Xavier’s Ground, Parel.
The results: II div.: Boxers FA 4 (Abdul Manan 2, Janjitwar Dyaneshwar, Fazal Shaikh) bt Poinsur Gymkhana 0; JMJ Sports Club 7 (Raunak Killnger 3, Reuben Fernandes 2, Noom Rodrigues, Christopher Sequeira) bt Hearts FC 0 .
Companeroes SC start with a win
Companeroes Sports Club, Bandra, defeated Sacred Heart SC, Worli 2-0 in men’s open first round of the 25th Bandra Gymkhana rink football tournament at the Demonte Park Recreational Ground, Bandra.
The results: Men’s Open first round: Outsiders SC 3 (Sajjad Pawar 2, Sanket Bhagat) bt JVB Boys 0; PNT Boys, Vakola 2 (Aaron Rodrigues, D. Jason) bt T-70 SC 1 (Raaquib Merchant); Companeroes SC 2 (Kiran Sadari, Pranit Kadam) bt Sacred Heart, Worli 0; MTSC 1 (John Rodrigues 1) bt Gautendos 0 .
