Michael8217;s enter final on debut

MUMBAI, Sept 3: It was a dream debut for St Michael's, Mahim. Their U-17 boys edged past Diamond Jubilee School 15-9, 14-6, 16-14 to ente...

MUMBAI, Sept 3: It was a dream debut for St Michael8217;s, Mahim. Their U-17 boys edged past Diamond Jubilee School 15-9, 14-6, 16-14 to enter the final of the District Sports Council Multigames Inter-School Volleyball city Tournament, held at Bansidhar Agarwal School, Wadala, today. That volleyball is a second sport for a majority of the team, added a dash of excitement to their phenomenal run.

Coach SB Sharma explained, 8220;We are participating in the Multigames event for the first time. Some boys are rookies to the sport. My best players are originally football players. They were members of the school football team which clinched the U-16 second division title this year. Skipper Hilal is the captain of the football team too.8221;

Michael8217;s almost did not get there. After splitting the first two games, they trailed 7-11 in the decider. They won back serve, but a nasty clash of judgement between Hilal and another footballer Rohit Karkera saw Jubilee go up 12-10. But Rohit made amends with a fortuitous tip-in togive Michael8217;s a foothold. Hilal then reeled off two winners to set up the final clash against Don Bosco, Matunga. Bosco, coached by Western Railway8217;s Dinesh Kumar, are favourites to win the final, having beaten Michael8217;s in the inter-school quarterfinal last year.

The girls event lacked competition, and RA Podar College were unchallenged winners of the U-19 title. Hosts Bansidhar Agarwal notched a double-title after their girls won the U-14 and U-17 titles respectively. Bansidhar also entered the U-14 boys final, where they await the winners of the incomplete lower draw.

Results

U-19 boys final: Burhani College bt RA Podar 15-10, 15-0

U-17 boys semis: St Michael bt Diamond Jubilee 15-9, 14-16, 16-14; Don Bosco, Matunga bt Dadar Parsee 15-8, 15-6

U-14 boys semis: Bansidhar Agarwal, Wadala bt St Michael 15-4, 15-5

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U-17 girls final: Bansidhar Agarwal bt JB Vachcha 15-6, 15-0

U-14 girls final: Bansidhar Agarwal bt JB Vachcha 15-0, 3-15, 15-7