Women’s district football: It’s a Pune vs Buldhana clash for the title
June 24, 2019, Jalgaon, Pune
In the finals of the WIFA inter-district women’s football championship, Pune and Buldhana scored wins over Kolhapur and Gondia respectively in the penalty shoot-out in Jalgaon on Sunday.
Favourites Mumbai and the defending champions Nagpur were knocked out of the tournament by Gondia and Buldhana respectively in the quarter-finals.
In the semis, Pune and Kolhapur teams were unable to score in match time. In the penalty shoot-out, Pune’s Murial Adam, Shweta Borude and Sana Shaikh scored one goal each. Pune team’s captain and goalkeeper Anjali Barke saved all three shots taken by the Kolhapur players and helped the team enter the finals of the tournament for the first time.
Buldhana scored a 4-3 win over Gondia in the penalty shoot-out and secured a spot in the finals. The finals will be played on Monday.
In the quarter-final round, Pune outplayed Thane by 5-0. Pune’s excellent attack put them in the strong position with 2 goals in the first half scored by Pooja Waghire and Murial Adam. They continued their attacks and managed to add 3 more goals in the second half. A brace each from Ritu and Pooja helped Pune to beat Thane. Pune entered the semis beating Thane with a 5-0 win.
Kolhapur beat Amravati by 3-0 and Kolhapur’s attacking game strategy helped them to take the lead in the opening game. Pratiksha Mithari scored two goals while Sanika Chaugule one goal.
Buldhana registered the biggest upset of the tournament by defeating defending champions, Nagpur by 1-0. Buldhana managed to take the lead just before the first half when Aishwarya Bhonde’s powerful volley from the centre of the box found the back of the net. Buldhana were impressive in attacks taking the lead in the first half while in the second half they defended well to hold the lead. Buldhana entered the semi-finals with a 1-0 win. Gondia scored an upset by defeating Mumbai in the penalty shoot-out 6-5.
Results: Quarter-finals:
Kolhapur: 3 (Pratiksha Mithari 19’, 25’, Sanika Chaugule 40’) beat Amravati: 0;
Pune: 5 (Pooja Waghire 9’, 38’, Murial Adam 20’, Ritu Francis 35’, 42’) beat Thane:0;
Buldhana: 1 (Aishwarya Bhonde 24’) beat Nagpur: 0;
Gondia: 6 () beat Mumbai (5); Full time 0-0;
Semi-finals:
Pune: 3 (Murial Adam, Shweta Borude, Sana Shaikh) beat Kolhapur: 0; Full time 0-0;
Buldhana: 4 beat Gondiya: 3; via Tie Breaker; Full Time 0-0;
