Our Lady of Dolours (Marine Lines) registered a 4-0 win over St Stanislaus (Bandra) to enter the final of the Ahmed Sailor league-cum-knockout boys U-16 hockey tournament after a gap of two years at MHAL-Mahindra Stadium, Churchgate yesterday.*Abhay Tiwari (in blue) of Our Lady of Dolours (Marine Lines) and Ezekial Shetty (in green) of St Stanislaus (Bandra) battle it out in the semi-finals of the MSSA inter-school Ahmed Sailor hockey tournament at the MHAL-Mahindra Stadium, Churchgate yesterday. Pic/Suresh KK*
Our Lady of Dolours coach Marzban 'Bawa' Patel lauded the boys for the win, achieved despite not getting enough rest. "The boys reached Mumbai only yesterday night at 11pm from Pune where they lost to Krida Prabodhini 0-4 in final of the boys' U-17 Nehru Cup. They barely got any rest and played in the morning at 11 am. I am glad they won despite being tired," Patel said yesterday.
Dolours took the lead in the 22nd minute via Abhay Tiwari's field goal. A minute later, their lead was doubled when Arjun Gupta received a pass from Ramshankar Sonkar and promptly scored past St Stanislaus goalkeeper Dale Verhoven. After trailing 0-2, Stanislaus tried to make a comeback in the second half, but they couldn't convert the two clear chances they got.
Bhim Batala scored the third goal for the Marine Lines school in the 40th minute. Ten minutes later, Tikaram Thakulla made it 4-0, scoring off a penalty corner conversion. The Marine Lines School will now take on defending champions Don Bosco (Matunga).
*Don Bosco win*
Don Bosco beat Children's Academy (Malad) 7-4 via tie-breaker in the other semi-final. Ayush Shetty scored two goals, while Aldrin Mascarenhas, Sahil Singh, Paul Fernandes, Clivert Miller and Peter Nadar scored a goal each for Don Bosco. For Children's Academy, Darshan Gavkar scored a brace while Rahul Patel and Devesh Saddha netted a goal each.
*It's Duruelo vs Joseph's*
In the Panchgani Old Boys Hockey tournaments for girls U-16, Duruelo Convent (Bandra) will take on St Joseph's High School (Bandra) in the final today. Duruelo Convent beat Guru Nanak High School (Sion) 6-5 via tier-breaker, while St Joseph's thrashed St Teresa's (Santacruz) 5-0.Walkovers mar MSSA tennisDay One of the MSSA inter-school tennis tourney at MSLTA courts witnessed 20 walkovers with players failing to turn up at the MSLTA courts. Anthony Rodrigues, MSSA's lawn tennis secretary said: "This is the first time we have witnessed such a situation. The reason is still unclear".
*— Rufus Vedanayagam* Reported by Mid-Day 8 hours ago.