18 December,2024 08:49 AM IST | Mumbai | Ashwin Ferro
The Mumbai junior girls receive their runner-up trophy in Jalgaon recently
A spirited Mumbai went down fighting to Pune in the final of the Western India Football Association-organised Maharashtra State Inter-District Junior Girls Football Championship at Shiv Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Sports Complex in Jalgaon recently.
The Mumbai girls lost 0-1 with the tournament-winning goal coming from Pune's Ishita Debnath. Thane district won third place, beating Kolhapur 1-0.
The Mumbai girls however, impressed with their dominant play throughout the competition. The girls had a great start to the five-day (December 8-12) tournament, routing Amravati 9-0 in the first round. They followed that up with another big 5-0 win over Raigad in the second round. In the quarter-finals Mumbai got the better of Nashik 5-4 and then beat Thane 1-0 in a keenly contested semi-final.
Mumbai's Preesha Viral was adjudged best forward of the tournament while the best goalkeeper's prize went to Kolhapur's Ashawari Patil and the best defender was Thane's Nyasa Bondre. Pune's Sharvari Mane was named best player of the tournament.
