MSSA: Thakur boys appear for exam and then win semi-final later

Kandivli lads appear for Science paper in the morning before winning U-16 Div III semi-final at Cooperage 3 hours later; will take on St Pius X (Mulund) in the boys final of MSSA on Wednesday

Thakur Vidya Mandir (Kandivli) will take on St Pius X (Mulund) in the boys U-16 Division III final of the Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA) on Wednesday.


Thakur Vidya Mandir skipper Arbaaz Shaikh (right) gets the ball past Smt RSB Arya Vidya Mandir's Ishan Vijay during their MSSA U-16 Div III semi-final at Cooperage yesterday. Pic/Suresh KK 

Yesterday, riding on a brace by skipper Arbaaz Shaikh, the Kandivli outfit got the better of Smt RSB Arya Vidya Mandir (Juhu) 3-0 in the first semi-final at the refurbished Cooperage. The win was special considering most of the Kandivli lads had taken their science exam in the morning.

The Kandivli team managed to arrive at the venue just in time for their 2pm kick off having appeared for the hour-long examination at 10am. Skipper Arbaaz (15) admitted he was more worried about the match than his paper.

"My concentration was more on the match than the exam. I am glad we won. Our aim this year is to earn promotion to Division II. Having achieved that, now we want to win the title and make the school's silver jubilee celebrations even more special," said Arbaaz, who has scored nine goals in the tourney.

Arbaaz opened the scoring in the eighth minute after which teammate Varun Singh doubled the lead in the second half. Arbaaz then scored the second to seal the win.

Thakur Vidya mandir coach Lawrence Bing was happy that his boys had passed both their double examination on the day.

"Ten players from this playing XI are in Class X and had an exam this morning. I'm glad that they have succeeded in both tests (exam and this semi-final) today . I hope we can win the title now," he said.

In the other semi-final, St Pius beat Hansraj Morarji (Andheri) 2-1. Abhishek Bhagat, Joshua D'Souza scored a goal each for St Pius, while Abhishek Walikat pulled one back for Hansraj Morarji.

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