Hosts Maharashtra emerged champions in the Pune FC – 59th National School Games Under-17 Football Girls Championship 2013-14, organised by Directorate of Sports and Youth Services, Pune, Maharashtra at Shree Shivchhatrapati Sports Complex, on Wednesday.
In a tensely fought final, Maharashtra and Haryana were inseparable at the end of regulation time with both sides tied at goalless. With the game moving into the penalties, the hosts kept their calm in the title-deciding penalty shoot out to emerge champions for the very first time.
For Maharashtra, Komal Devkule missed the opening penalty kick but Karen Paes, Afreen Peerbhoy and Seema Pavale all converted from the spot. The opponents however failed to convert any of their spotkicks.
In the first final of the day, Haryana eves defended their title beating Tamil Nadu 2-1 in a game of equal exchanges to lift the U19 Girls title. Strikes from Munesh Kumari and Sanju Yadav put Haryana 2-0 up in the first half before R. Sandhiya pulled one back for Tamil Nadu.
Meanwhile, in the Under-19 Boys’ final, Mohammed Irfan’s first half strike was enough to hand last-year’s third placed Kerala a win over IPSC.
The Under-19 Boys’ final was played under floodlight for the first time replete with the FIFA Anthem, player walkout and introductions.
RESULTS
GIRLS UNDER-19 CATEGORY
Semifinals
Haryana: 6 (Mamta Bhuwghorya, Sanju Yadav 4, Madhubala) bt Madhya Pradesh: 0
Tamil Nadu: 1 (V. Saubhagya) bt Odisha 1 via tie-breaker
Third Place
Odisha: 6 (Itishree Sardar 3, Purnema Kujur, Shantilata Polai 2) bt Madhya Pradesh: 0
Final
Haryana: 2 (Munesh Kumari, Sanju Yadav) bt Tamil Nadu: 1 (R. Sandhiya)
GIRLS UNDER-17 CATEGORY
Semifinals
Haryana: 3 (Poonam Kashyap, Nisha Bageriya, Monika Nakak) bt Andhra Pradesh: 0
Maharashtra: 1 (Zarastin Mistry) bt Tamil Nadu: 0
Third Place
Tamil Nadu: 2 (M. Malavika 2) bt Andhra Pradesh: 0
Final
Maharashtra: 0 (3) (Karen Paes, Afreen Peerbhoy, Seema Pavale) bt Haryana: 0 (0) via tie-breaker
BOYS UNDER-19 CATEGORY
Semifinals
Kerala: 0 (4) (Jot Masih, Sukhjeet Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Santos Kumar) bt Punjab: 0 (3) (Arjun Jayvay, K. Vikesh, Pradesh C) via tie-breaker
IPSC: 1 (Pisa Toy) bt Chhattisgarh: 1 (Hindraj) via tie-breaker
Third Place
Punjab: 4 (Santosh Kumar 2, Ravinder Singh, Jatinder Kumar) bt Chhattisgarh: 0
Final
Kerala: 1 (Mohammed Irfan) bt IPSC: 0