Top city schools will vie for mid-day's five-a-side rink football crown today
The Neville D'Souza Turf in Bandra where mid-day's Ranis of Rink football tournament will be held today
High-voltage action will be on display as girls from leading schools in the city will be engaged in some engrossing battles and aim to be crowned champions in the Ranis of Rink at the Neville D'Souza Turf on Saturday. All the leading schools, including MSSA champs Arya Vidya Mandir (Juhu), runners-up Mary Immaculate Girls School (Borivli) and Apostolic Carmel (Bandra), who finished third, have confirmed their participation and the day-long (10am to 3pm)contest promises to be very exciting.
Immaculate Girls eye title
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Meanwhile, Mary Immaculate Girls School (Borivli) striker Leann Fernandes believes her school will go the distance and their target is to emerge champions. "We were disappointed after losing to Arya Vidya Mandir in the girls' under-16 final of the MSSA inter-school football tournament. But we are determined to change the script and are desperate to win mid-day's Ranis of Rink football tournament," said Leann.
"Our entire team is waiting to play this tournament as we get another opportunity to showcase our skills. After we were told about mid-day's tournament we started to train hard and are set to get down to action," Leann added.
MSSA champions Arya Vidya Mandir are determined to hold on to their No. 1 status and reassert their supremacy as the top school in the city. "The girls are all very excited to play in the five-a-side tournament. It's wonderful that such a football event for girls is being organised as it gives them a chance to play in another tournament, a new tournament after the MSSA, DSO and Subroto tournaments were completed a couple of months ago," noted Desmond D'Souza, Arya Vidya Mandir coach and physical education teacher.
"All the girls in the SSC were sad because the football season was over for them. But, now they are very happy as they have one more opportunity to compete in a tournament.
"They are thrilled and very keen as this is a fast game and we will try our best to continue with the winning momentum. We will certainly miss our key player Sai Sankhe, who is currently training with the India under-17 girls team in Goa," D'Souza added.
Apostolic Carmel coach Cosmos Vaz sounded a bit wary as his team will start without some first choice players. "We are all set and I have already identified
my players who will be playing. We will miss a couple of main players who are in SSC. They have to attend extra classes in school and will not be able to participate in the tournament.
Focus on younger lot
"I cannot force the girls as their parents want them to now concentrate on their studies as this is the final year. But the younger bunch of girls, who are quite good enough, will definitely give it their best shot. Our success in winning the Subroto Cup [Maharashtra zone] in Ahmednagar this September gives us the confidence and belief that we can beat the best and win another title," said Vaz.
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