Thane girls steal football thunder

The victorious Thane District players are all smiles after they defeat Kolhapur in the WIFA Inter-District Football Championship final held in Palghar recently

Defender Nyasa Bondre scored the all-important goal to help Thane District clinch the WIFA Inter-District Football Championship at the Tarapur Vidya Mandir ground, Palghar, recently. It was their maiden junior girls' title.

Thane defeated Kolhapur District 1-0 in the final to continue their impressive, unbeaten run in the tournament.

They started their campaign with a 22-0 thrashing of Nanded in the opener. In the quarter-finals, they registered a 3-0 win over Nashik. Meanwhile, in the semi-finals, Thane's centre forward and skipper Harleen Kaur scored a late goal to edge out Pune. Harleen was named the player of the tournament, while Kolhapur District's Asavari Patil was adjudged the best goalkeeper.Thane District defender Nyasa Bondre

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Nyasa, 15, a Class 10 student of Euro School, Airoli, told www.mid-day.com: "The competition was not easy. The semi-finals against Kolhapur was tough. In the final, I was very nervous. I knew it was a do-or-die situation when I was taking the last free kick at the last minute. I couldn't afford to miss that one. I am glad I managed to score. I cannot thank my parents [dad Sumeet and mom Rutali] enough for encouraging me throughout."

Nyasa, who trains on grass at the Football School of India (FSI), Nerul, and on turf (during the rainy season) at the Fr Agnel School in Navi Mumbai, revealed that her team didn't get an opportunity to celebrate their win since they had a train to catch. "The entire team lifted me after the final. We hugged each other [after the win]. Since we didn't have time to celebrate, our coaches [head coach Anish Pol and manager Victoria Gill plan to throw a party for us soon," said Nyasa, whose favourite players are Argentine superstar Lionel Messi and Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne.

Meanwhile, Harleen, 14, a Class 9 student of Apeejay School in Kharghar, said she was pleasantly surprised to receive the player of the tournament. "I thought I had a 50-50 chance [to win]. I was not the top scorer [five goals in the tournament].But my match and my goal against Pune was the game-changer and my overall performance was good. This win wouldn't have been possible without a team effort, the support of dad [Vijay Sokhi], mom [Jagdeep Kaur Sokhi] and coach [Pol]," said Harleen, whose favourite player like teammate Nyasa is Messi.Thane District skipper Harleen Kaur with the trophy and medal