Hiranandani player replaces regular goalkeeper and makes crucial saves to help Powai school beat Colaba Municipal 6-5 in penalty shootout; guides team into MSSA U-16 Division-III final
Aarush Tandon
Arush Tandon, 15, proved to be the saviour for Hiranandani Foundation School (Powai) as he effected as many as five saves in the penalty shootout to see his team emerge 6-5 victors via sudden death against Colaba Municipal Secondary School (Colaba) in the boys U-16 Division-III semi-finals of the MSSA inter-school football tournament at the Neville D'Souza ground, Bandra yesterday. The match finished 0-0 at the end of regulation time.
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In the ensuing shootout, Hiranandani's regular goalkeeper Shaurya Mittal failed to save the first three attempts from the Colaba boys. Arush then stepped in and took over the gloves from Shaurya. A confident Arush showed fine anticipation and saved five of the last seven kicks from the Colaba lads to help Hiranandani enter the final.
Confident approach
"After Shaurya conceded the first three penalties, I believed I could do better, so I replaced him in goal. I watched the feet of the shooters and that helped me anticipate which direction they would place the ball. I've done this before, in the quarter-final and semi-final of our DSO matches two years ago, where we went on to win the title, so I was confident," Arush, who also converted one of his team's penalties, told mid-day. "This is a big win for us because last year we had lost in the quarter-finals," said Arush, who is happy to have relocated to Mumbai from Kanpur in 2013 following the transfer of his father, who is a Chartered Accountant.
Kanpur to Mumbai
"In Kanpur there were not many opportunities to play football, but here, in Mumbai, there is so much scope. Besides my school team, I also play for my club, PIFA Colaba. But since I'm in Class X this year, I've taken a break from club football to focus on my studies," added Arush.
In the tie-breaker, Hiranandani converted through Adnay Srivastav, Yash Kaushik, Arush, Yash Patwardhan, Ranvir Malik and Arnav Jhamb. The Colaba side scored through Devansh Tandel, Punit Shahi, Raj Gupta, Pravin Chavan and Suraj Singh.
Earlier, Dhirubhai Ambani International School (Bandra-Kurla Complex) beat Bombay Scottish (Powai) 2-0 in the first semi-final. Striker Aryaman Tandon (23rd minute) and Rohan Batra (41st min) scored for the Ambani side.
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