Once at full-strength, they managed to defeat Oxford Public School (Kandivli) 5-0 in the pre-quarters before ousting Shindewadi Mumbai Public School (Parel) 3-1 on penalties in the last-eight tie
Swami Vivekanand’s Riva Hegde during the match against Podar International on Thursday. Pic/Nimesh Dave
Swami Vivekanand International School (Kandivli) qualified for their maiden girls U-16 Division-II final thanks to a narrow 1-0 win over Podar International School (Santacruz) in the Dream Sports Mumbai School Sports Association (MSSA) inter-school football tournament at Wings Sports Centre, Bandra, on Thursday.
The decisive moment for the Kandivli outfit came in the 22nd minute when Riva Hegde scored from the penalty spot, not only giving her side the win, but also helping them seal promotion to Division-I.
For Swami Vivekanand, the journey to the final has been far from straightforward. They began the competition with limited resources,
fielding only nine players in their first three group matches due to the absence of several squad members from Class 10, who were unavailable due to examinations. Despite the disadvantage, the team managed to beat Utpal Sanghavi (Juhu) 1-0, Bhaktivedanta (Andheri) 3-0, and Universal High School (Malad) 2-0.
Once at full-strength, they managed to defeat Oxford Public School (Kandivli) 5-0 in the pre-quarters before ousting Shindewadi Mumbai Public School (Parel) 3-1 on penalties in the last-eight tie.
Interestingly, out of a squad of 12, eight players were drafted in from the U-14 group, making the side quite inexperienced compared to their opponents. However, the younger players rose to the challenge and adapted quickly to the demands of the U-16 competition.
Swami Vivekanand coach Dhruv Sanghvi credited his girls for their monumental effort. “I am very happy with the team’s performance. The players have worked extremely hard to get this far and achieve promotion to Div-I next year,” Sanghvi said.
Meanwhile, in the other semi-final, Dhirubhai Ambani International School (BKC) defeated DG Ketan (Malad) by a comfortable 3-0 margin. Eva Gupta scored a brace, while Samika Khanna added the third goal for the BKC outfit.
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