West Zone 1 winners are here

After an arduous City Championship qualification process which lasted over 4 months, it was a 3-way tie between the winners from Ahmedabad, Indore and Mumbai to battle it out with their sights set for the berth in National Championship. The RFYS West Zone-1 National took place from 5th to 7th November in Ahmedabad’s SAL College ground. With 3 teams in each category, only the team with the most points amongst them would qualify for the National Championship.

On the first day of the National Qualifiers, teams from Ahmedabad and Indore locked horns across 4 categories. Both cities won 2 matches each. Indore’s Emerald Heights International Higher Secondary School registered wins in penalty shootout as they defeated Delhi Public School and Laxman Gyanpith in the Junior Boys and Senior Boys category respectively. In the School Girls clash, Faith Higher Secondary School’s Hetal Thakor continued her goal scoring spree as she starred with a match winning hat-trick in her team’s comprehensive 3-0 win over Government Excellence School. In the College Boys clash, Shubham Mane scored a brace as Indore Christian College stormed to a 6-1 win over The Maharaja Sayaji Rao University of Baroda.

On Day 2, institutes from Ahmedabad, Indore and Mumbai went head-to head. Emerald Heights International Higher Secondary School’s Junior Boys held their nerves to win another penalty shoot-out as they secured the passage to National Championship with two wins in two. The Senior Boys of Emerald Heights International Higher Secondary School couldn’t replicate their victory from day one as they faltered to Thakur College 3-1. In the School Girls fixture, Ahmedabad’s champions, Faith Higher Secondary School became the second team to advance to the National Championship following a 1-0 victory over Father Agnel Multipurpose School.

With the qualification all but guaranteed in two categories, the day 3 promised to be exciting with the Senior Boys and College Boys spot still up for grab. Mumbai’s Thakur College of Science and Commerce ensured qualification to National Championship as they registered a thumping 8-1 win over Delhi Public School. Runal Patil stole the show with his four goals. Last of the teams to qualify for the National Championship were the College Boys of Thakur College of Engineering and Technology. They headed into the game, still yet to taste a defeat in the tournament, and they extended their unbeaten run.

RFYS National Championship final is set to commence on December 28th. The teams that will travel for the National Championship from West Zone 1 are as follows –
Junior Boys – Emerald Heights International Higher Secondary, Indore
School Girls – Faith Higher Secondary School, Ahmedabad
Senior Boys – Thakur College of Science and Commerce, Mumbai
College Boys – Thakur College of Engineering and Technology, Mumbai