Navya’s twins strikes take Dhirubhai into final

Navya Dholakia at Cooperage yesterday. Pic/Sameer Markande

Displaying excellent all-round skills Navya Dholakia, 15, made a spectacular solo run that ended in a clinical finish as she scored the match-winner to help Dhirubhai Ambani International School (BKC) beat a spirited Cathedral & John Connon (Fort) 2-1 in the semi-finals of the girls U-16 MSSA Division-I inter-school football tournament at Cooperage on Monday.

"I'm excited to see my effort help my school enter the final, but it was good teamwork too. I've been representing my school right from the U-12 and U-14 age groups, but this is the first time I will be playing in the MSSA final. I'm sure we will give our best to win the final and emerge champions," Navya told mid-day.

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Interestingly, Navya, the team's captain, had also scored the equaliser in the sixth minute after Cathedral dented the Dhirubhai citadel when consistent goal-scorer Riana Saraiya struck the opener in the very first minute. "The match had just started and we conceded an early goal, but I told the girls not to lose hope and they responded positively," added Navya.

In the second semi-final, Bombay International School (Babulnath) got the better of Lakshdham HS (Goregaon) 3-2 via the tie-breaker after the score read 0-0 at the end of regulation time. In the shootout, Bombay International scored through Aditi Moondhra, Mihika Iyer and Anya Mistry, while only Jhanvi Chauhan and Veronica D'Souza managed to hit the target for Lakshdham.

Also Read: MSSA news: Navya to the four for Dhirubhai

Results
Boys' under-16 Div-IV: St Blaise, Andheri 3 (Vihaan Kotian, Hamza Patel, Sumaid Shaikh) beat Swami Vivekanand International, Goregaon 0; Parle Tilak Vidyalaya, Vile Parle 1 (Sharvil More) beat DPYA, Dadar 0; Bombay Scottish ‘B', Mahim 3 (Adidev Ray, Ethan Kumar, Nirmit Shah) beat Podar International, Powai 0; HVB Global, Marine Lines 2 (Manay Seth, Priyansh Jain) beat General Education, Chembur 0; Witty International, Malad 1 (Hitesh Mandal) beat Ryan International, Goregaon 0; Rajhans Vidyalaya, Andheri 6 (Abir Jitani 3, Yogeshwar Guleria, Vedant Atre, Oshan Mehta) beat Our Lady of Dolours, Marine Lines 0