It was a day for football cubs on the fifth day of the Sports For All 2016 here at the DY Patil Stadium on Friday, with as many as 500 students from over 40 schools participating in the Under-10 and Under-12 boys’ categories.
St. Paul’s High School were in ruthless form against St. Xavier’s School and won 16-2 in the U-12 boys’ category
And if you were wondering if they could even run as fast as the ball or give it a solid kick, here is the highlight: they scored as many 199 goals in the classification matches that saw the pre-quarterfinal lineup emerge in both the age groups. If tiny Atharve Rawale of St. Paul’s High School set the goal-book on fire with as many nine individual goals in the Under-12 category, tinier Maben Aldric of Holy Cross School, Mira Road smashed in five himself in the Under-10s.
Players engaged in tussle during the football competition
St. Paul’s School underlined their supremacy and set themselves as favourites by starting their day with a thumping 16-2 victory over St. Xavier High School; later in the day, they were equally ruthless, beating St. Augustine High School 8-0. Rawale led the assault in the first match with seven goals, ably supported by Dhruv Pawar and Varun Waghela who found the net four and three times each. Chinmay Dalvi, Devarsh Pawar and Chinmay Karle bagged a goal apiece.
Rawale scored two more goals in the second match, as did Dalvi, to take their side into the last 16 in style. Nawan Bhagyaraj, Dhruv, Devarsh and Varun got past the goalkeeper once each to compete the tally.
In another Under-12 match, Ryan International School, Nerul beat JJ Academy English Medium High School & Junior College, Mulund 14-0 to advance to the next round. Ryan, which is one of the top teams in fray, was also in prime form, with Advait Dhole causing the most damage. He pumped in four goals while Vedant Naik and Soham Doshi got a treble each. Parth Chikale scored two while Renga Charan and Sayyam Desai hit one goal each.
JJ Academy’s woes didn’t end with that, with St. Lawrence, Kandivali also handing them punishment. Lawrence wrapped it up at 10-1 but it wasn’t enough to give them a place in the pre-quarters as they had had a bad first day.
Twelve other teams qualified for the knockout rounds on Friday. They are Reliance Foundation School, Navi Mumbai, Delhi Public School, Nerul, Holy Cross High School, Mira Road, Cambridge School Kandivali, Akim Ali Mitha Urdu High School, Ryan International, Kharghar, St. Lawrence, Vashi, Sri Ma Vidayalaya, Udayanchal HigH School, Vibgyor High School, Malad, Ryan International, Kandivali, Apeejay School, Kharghar. The remaining two will come through after their matches on Saturday.
In the Under-10 category, Vibgyor, Airoli, Apeejay School, Kharghar, State Bank Officers Association School, St. Pauls Academy, St. Xavier High School, Holy Cross, Mira Road and Cambridge, Kandivali have so far made it to the next round.