Bharati Vidyapeeth, Balewadi are Pune FC Futsal Cup Champions
Bharati Vidyapeeth, Balewadi rode on Tejas Balwadkar’s brilliant extra time brace to be crowned the first-ever Champions of the Godrej Properties-Pune FC ‘The Futsal Cup 2015’ at the Freekick Turfs in Balewadi. In the final played amidst parents, Bharati Vidyapeeth, Balewadi registered a dramatic 2-0 win over Vibgyor High, NIBM to come out on top among over 40 Under-12 school teams who battled hard over the course of six days in the competition.
The Futsal Cup’s showpiece finale saw the two teams play an attacking brand of football. While Vibgyor High created chances through Mithil Navlakha and Rhian Bhog, the strike pair of Vishal Khanekar and Tejas Balwadkar threatened for Bharati Vidyapeeth in an intense affair.
After failing to break the deadlock in regulation time, both sides headed into extra time. However, once again they were inseparable and the score stayed goalless. Just as it looked that the game would be decided via the penalty shootout, Tejas Balwadkar struck in twice in quick succession to hand Bharati Vidyapeeth a stunning win.
Earlier in the day, a goal from Mithil Navlakha handed Vibgyor High, NIBM a narrow win over City International School in the second semifinal. Meanwhile, Bharati Vidyapeeth received a walkover in their semifinal against Spicer Memorial High School.
At the end of the competition, Mithil Navlakha (Vibgyor High, NIBM) was voted the ‘Player of the Competition’ while Bharathi Vidyapeeth’s Abhishek Chavan bagged the ‘Best Goalkeeper’ award. With 12 goals to his name, Sinhagad Springdale’s Shrinivas Bhadane grabbed the ‘Top Goalscorer’ award.