The young Mumbai FC outfit outplayed Goregaon Sports Club 4-1 while earlier in the day Bank of India rallied to subdue State bank of India by a 3-1 margin. The Mumbai FC colts were in total control over the proceedings and scored at regular intervals through to run away with the match. Ronak Killinger netted a brace while Cletus Paul and Vishal Kotak added one each. For Goregaon Sports Club the lone goal was scored by Akshay Paralkar. In the opening match of day Bank of India suffered an early setback as Sachin Shetty hit the target in the very eighth minute to put State Bank in the front. Bank of India stung by that reverse reground and fought back strongly and restored parity 11 minutes later through Siddharth Sharma. Abhishek Padkar doubled the lead for Bank of India in the 40th minute before Jitendra Thakur rounded off the tally in the 85th minute.
Results: At Poinsur Gymkhana – Super Div: Bank of India 3 (Siddharth Sharma. Abhishek Padkar, Jitendra Thakur) beat State Bank of India 1 (Sachin Shetty). Mumbai FC Under-19 4 (Ronak Killinger 2, Cletus Paul, Vishal Kotak) beat Goregaon Sports Club 1 (Akshay Paralkar).
Puri, Jalan qualify for National finals
Akshai Puri carded a gross score of 84 and nett score of 64 to emerge winner from the 0-18 handicap at the Willngdon SC golf course, the second day of the regional finals of the 13th Mercedes Trophy, the world’s largest amateur golf tournament, with 58,000 participants across 43 countries. The handicap category of 19-124 was won by Sushil K Jalan, with a gross score of 86 and a nett score of 65.6. Puri and Jalan thus qualified for the Mercedes Trophy National finals to be held in Pune in April and were joined by Anuj Thappar and Abhir Khanna, who finished runner-up behind Puri Jalan respectively. Thappar had a gross of 75 and nett of 64.2, while Khanna recorded a gross of 85 and a nett of 68.2. In the Ballantine’s Long Drive category , Sumedh Gangal hit a 272- yard shot to win the contest, while the the Mercedes-Benz Straightest Drive category was won by Ashok Mundra, who shot on the line. The winner of the straightest drive contest will win a chance to go to the prestigious British Open Championship in UK this July.
Three winners from the national final will represent India at the 4 round Mercedes Trophy World Finals in Stuttgart, Germany against winners from 43 countries.
Insurance Shield cricket
The Insurance Shield Cricket Tournament which was revived last year will be played from February 5-22. The tournament organized by the Oriental Insurance Sports & Recreation Club will see the hosts alongwith The New India Assurance, United India Insurance, General Insurance, L & T Insurance, Canara Bank and holders Mazgaon Dock fight for honours. To be played on a league cum knockout basis the finals of the tournament are scheduled on 22nd Feb at National CC, Cross Maidan. This being the Platinum Jubilee of the United India Insurance Co. they have come forward to support this venture and the winners and runners-up will be presented the United India Platinum Jubilee Trophy. Vijay Patil, the Vice President of MCA and the head of the D.Y Patil Group alongwith the Vima Kamgar Bank and K.N. Dastoor Insurance Brokers have extended support to this tournament which was not being held for many years owing to financial constraints.
Athletics meet for suburban schools
The inaugural Mumbai Suburban Athletic Championships will be held at Sports Authority of India Sports Complex at Kandivali East on February 12 and 13. The meet is being jointly hosted by the Lions Club of Bombay (Kalina) and Arjun Probodhini. There will be events for boys and girls in the under-16, under-14, under-12, under-10, under-8 and under-6 categories. For details organising secretary Arthur Fernandes (9819942412) may be contacted.
Inter-Collegiate volleyball
The Inter-Collegiate Volleyball Tournament, organized & hosted by Bombay YMCA, will be held at the YMCA’s Jhoola Maidan, Sankli Street, Byculla on January 6 and 7. The knockout tournament will feature top colleges in Mumbai including defending champions P.D. Lions (Malad) and runners-up Jhunjhunwala. Entry forms are available at the venue. For more details contact: Jonas Kumar, organizing secretary (Tel: 23098274).