AVM Juhu do the double!

Arya Vidya Mandir (Juhu) forward Radhika Vyas beats Rustomjee Cambridge (Dahisar) goalkeeper Shivika Shetty to score in the final of mid-day Ranis of Rink 2024 at the Neville D’Souza turf, Bandra, recently. Pics/Sayyed Sameer Abedi, Atul Kamble

Mumbai's only inter-school rink football tournament for girls U-16 fronted by mid-day, Ranis of Rink, returned to the Neville D'Souza turf in Bandra for its third edition last Friday with loads of enthusiasm and a barrage of goals. Last season's champions Arya Vidya Mandir (Juhu), powered by dynamic striker Radhika Vyas, defended their title, beating Rustomjee (Dahisar) 2-0 in the final of the eight-team competition.

mid-day's Editor-in-chief Tinaz Nooshian (left) presents the Best Goalkeeper award to Anoushka Patni of AVM (Juhu)

Radhika, who was adjudged Best Striker last season, gradually got into the groove, scoring thrice in the initial league phase as her school brushed aside St Lawrence (Borivli) and Mary Immaculate Girls (Borivli) 6-0 and 4-0 respectively. She was the differentiating factor in the semi-final against Arya Vidya Mandir (Bandra).

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Clash of two strikers

It was a fine clash between two strikers as Radhika was up against Saiyatee Varadkar, her No. 7 counterpart from the Bandra school. Saiyatee finished as the tournament's top scorer, with 12 goals and picked up the Best Forward award, but it was Radhika, who trumped her rival in the penultimate clash. Radhika scored twice and set up teammate Aarya Banjara for the third goal. Norah Bhattarcharya netted the fourth as the Juhu school won 4-1 to cruise into the final.

Final flourish

In the final too, it was Radhika's brilliance that made the difference. Interestingly, AVM (Juhu) had lost to Rustomjee Cambridge 1-2 in the league stages. However, AVM coach Desmond D'Souza strategically rested Radhika in the second half of that match only to unleash her as the surprise element in the final. Radhika scored twice and Rustomjee, who were netting almost for fun in their previous matches, were stunned. Despite being outplayed in the final, Rustomjee Cambridge's Alisha Mehta picked up the Best Defender award while AVM (Juhu) custodion Anoushka Patni was named the Best Goalkeeper.

Best Defender: Alisha Mehta, Rustomjee Cambridge (Dahisar) (right) Best Forward: Saiyatee Varadkar, Arya Vidya Mandir (Bandra)

Earlier, as the tournament kicked off, a significant aspect tying all games was that the girls wore their goal-scoring boots right from the outset. A total of 47 goals were scored across the 12 group stage matches. Headlining this pattern were the four semi-finalists - AVM (Juhu), Rustomjee Cambridge, AVM (Bandra), and Dhirubhai Ambani International School (Bandra).

Rustomjee Cambridge began their campaign with a 7-1 win over MIG (Borivli), who bowed out after the group stages with just one win (2-0 v St Lawrence). St Lawrence (Borivli) and Bombay International (Babulnath) were unable to get a point, having lost all their group games. Apostolic Carmel (Bandra) did well to bounce back from a 0-5 defeat to AVM (Bandra) earlier as twin strikes by Adelia Picardo saw them beat Bombay International 2-0. However, a narrow 1-2 defeat to Dhirubhai Ambani prevented them from qualifying for the semis. Dhirubhai however, failed to finish on the podium after suffering successive defeats thereafter, to Rustomjee Cambridge in the semi-finals, and AVM (Bandra) in the bronze medal match.

The participants

Rustomjee Cambridge (Dahisar)

Arya Vidya Mandir (Juhu)

Apostolic Carmel (Bandra)

St Lawrence (Borivli)

Mary Immaculate Girls (Borivli)

Arya Vidya Mandir (Bandra)

Dhirubhai Ambani International School (Bandra)

Bombay International (Babulnath)