Sports round up

PFC fought hard,but couldn’t quite match their opponents on a day when they were reduced to 10 men after midfielder Arata Izumi was stretched off injured with 15 minutes remaining and all three substitutes were used up.

Skipper Luciano Sabrosa struck early for the Goans,before midfielder Douhou Pierre raised PFC’s hopes of a come back. But Pune conceded a soft goal to Anthony D’Souza,and couldn’t recover from the blow. Salgaocar finished top of the group with 9 points. Pune FC,with 4 points,dropped to third place,losing out to Prayag United SC on goal-difference. PUSC (+1) pipped Pune FC (0) after beating United Sikkim SC 2-0.

In the seventh minute,Pune FC conceded back-to-back corner-kicks,the second of which ended in a goal. Striker Sean Rooney and Francis combined on the right to earn the first corner. Off the delivery into the box,Pune FC goalkeeper parried a Quinton Jacobs try to give Salgaocar FC their second corner-kick. Defender Luciano,who moved up,did well to direct his header into the goal.

Five minutes later,Pune FC pressed forward in numbers into the box,which led to the equaliser. The ball broke to Srikanth Ramu,who found Douhou in space. The Ivorian finished with ease across the goal to level terms.

5 players in junior women’s state team

Five Pune players are part of the Maharashtra squad for the Hockey India Junior Women’s National Championships,which will be held at Rai,Sonepat,Haryana,from October 1 to 12. They are goalkeepers Priya Shendre and Sneha Satav,fullback Rupali Patil,halfback Pratiksha Harne and forward Nikhat Shaikh. The team,which departs for the tournament on September 28,will be accompanied by coach Chandra Sekhar,manager Harry Anthony and physio Isha Vohra.

Squad: Goalkeepers: Priya Shendre,Sneha Satav (both Pune); Defenders: Rupali Patil (Pune),Mamta Pasi,Sharmin Baasha (both Mumbai),Manjusha Ahirrao (Nashik); Halfbacks: Bhavana Khade (Hingoli),Payal Chumbale (Nashik); Pournima Jibkate (Brahmapuri),Pratiksha Harne (Pune); Forwards: Nikhat Shaikh (Pune),Pooja Bhoyar (Yavatmal),Krishna Patel,Tanaaz Mohammed,Ambareen Shaikh (all Mumbai),Poonam Jadhav (Satara),Monali Khewali (Nagpur),Shweta Patil (Kolhapur).

Yadav,Ansari star in Maharashtra victory

A backs-to-the wall innings of 96 from Sunil Yadav and a match haul of eight wickets from Azhar Ansari helped Maharashtra XI defeat Bapuna XI by 95 runs in the Bapuna Cup tournament at Nagpur. Batting first,Maharashtra were in a spot of bother at 58 for six,and facing a hostile spell from Swapnil Bandiwar,when Yadav walked in. He put on 56 with Azhar Ansari and then 90 with Nitish Salekar,to help them post a first innings score of 204. In reply,Bapuna XI were bowled out for 110,with Ansari taking four for 28. Maharashtra folded for 97 in their second innings,with Sandeep Singh running through with a five-wicket haul. Set 192 to win,Bapuna XI only managed 96,with Ansari and Rahul Tripathi taking four wickets each.

Scores: Maharashtra XI 204 in 74.5 overs (Sunil Yadav 96,Nitesh Salekar 33,Swapnil Bandiwar six for 47) and 97 in 29 overs (Sandeep Singh five for 12) bt Bapuna XI 110 in 41.2 overs (Ravi Jangid 34,Sandeep Singh 37,Azhar Ansari four for 28) and 96 in 22.2 overs (Azhar Ansari four for 30,Rahul Tripathi four for 16).