It was the first match of the tournament for Sardar Dastur Nosherwar Girls High School and they secured an easy 42-17 win over Cross Over to enter the semi-final of 14th Late Indirabai Joshi Memorial under-18 Girikand Cup District Championship on Saturday.
Dastur girls were lucky to get three walk over games in the first round and the team played its first match at the Deccan Gymkhana courts.
“We were not able to hit the courts due to walk over and today I am happy that all the nine girls got chance to play. All the players have the capability to deliver their best in the semi-final and final tomorrow (Sunday),” said Lalit Nahata, coach of Sardar Dastur Nosherwar Girls High School.
Led by the 18-year-old captain Sudhiksha Kulkarni, Dastur girls had five under-13 players playing in the team, and they managed to deliver an impressive performance. Kulkarni who has played nine national championships so far was pleased with her team’s performance. “Most of the players are younger to me. All of them have very good skills,” said Kulkarni .
Taking 19-6 lead in the half time, Dastur girls were playing with ease.
{{/usCountry}}Taking 19-6 lead in the half time, Dastur girls were playing with ease.
{{/usCountry}}“We played good in the final quarter but before that we were not able to deliver a good performance” said Khushi Sanghvi, Cross Over Captain who scored ten points for her team. Most of the Cross Over players will be now focussing on university matches.
“Most of the girls are now doing their graduation so we will be representing college teams,” added Sanghvi who will be representing Fergusson College team.
Cross Over coach Arjun Kale added, “Team has improved from last three matches but girls are not in regular practice and it is slowing down their game.”
Cross head: Point Guard is play maker
Playing as a point guard, Kulkarni is very serious about his playing position.
Point Gaurd is play maker of the game he is the one who controls the offence. It is one position which holds the key,” added Kulkarni.
Result
Quarterfinals:
Sardar Dastur Nosherwar Girls High School 42 (Sudhiksha Kulkarni 7, Tanvi Salvi 8) bt Cross Over (Khushi Sanghvi 10, Siddhi Shinde 5) 17 Half time: 19-6
Quarter-wise score
First quarter: 8-2
Second quarter: 19-6
Third quarter: 33-9
Fourth quarter: 42- 17
Deccan Gymkhana Club ‘A’ 41 (Radhika Parikh 7, Arya Riswadkar 12) bt Ideal 30 (Oshin Ajnikar 12, Sai Jagtap 6) Half Time 30-16
Chondhe Patil Academy 34 (Saae Bramhankar 12, Devashree Pate 8) bt Bishops School Kalyaninagar 24 (Shivanjali Pandit 10, Jyotsana Bhutra 4) Half Time 12-19
Captain Say:
Sudhiksha Kulkarni, Sardar Dastur Nosherwar Girls High school (winner)
As a team we had thought it will be very tough match but we took good lead in the start and it helped us to secure a victory.
Khushi Sanghvi, Cross Over Captain (runner up)
Coordination was missing in our team due to less practice. We worked hard but we needed more practice before match.