Mumbai City champs in basketball and Handball

A BAGFUL OF ‘MUMBAI CITY’ TITLES

St. Joseph’s High School

Wadala

12^th October 2013

St. Joseph’s High School has produced yet another dream run in sports.   In a space of seven eventful days, our basketball and handball teams brought home four ‘Mumbai City champions’ titles.  Competing against the very best in the Mumbai City championship organized by DSO, our u-14 and u-17 basketball and handball teams came out trumps to annex the title in each of the categories.

Our boys, blessed with tremendous skill and determination, rose to the occasion when it mattered most. The DSO tournaments that are held for a shorter duration are a test of stamina and mental strength, besides skill.  The u-14 basketball team went into the finals of the tournament all guns blazing and come up with a stunning display to outfox the opponents and home favorites, Shishuvan, 44-24.  Earlier on the team had overcome the opposition with relative ease – they beat Cathedral 31-11 in the semifinals, Campion and OLGC in the preliminary rounds.

The u-17 basketball team too made it to the finals of the DSO tournament without breaking a sweat – though the tournament was played in oppressing heat – outclassing their opponents in the preliminary rounds.  They however had to step up the tempo in the semi-finals to win 29-17 against the formidable Navy Children school team.  The score line of the finals played against Anjuman Islam does not indicate the close fight between the two teams.  Eventually, our boys did make it look easy with a final score 59-36.  This is the second consecutive year that our team has won the Mumbai city championship.  They now go on to play the zonals.

Taking a leaf out from the basketball team’s book, the handball teams produced a near flawless effort to claim the Mumbai city championship titles in both the categories: u-14 and u-17.  Like basketball, the back-to-back games were grueling sessions, and our teams lived up to their top billing as champions in this sport.  The u-14 handball team made short work of their opponents Gopi Birla (finals) and GD Somani (semifinals) to win the championship title. The u-17 handball team brushed aside the challenge of G D Somani in the semifinals before putting up a gutsy display to outsmart Gopi Birla in the finals.  The teams now qualify for the zonals where they will meet the very best of Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivili, Ulhasnagar-Ambernath, Bhayander-Mira Road, Vasai-Virar and Raigad.

The coaches Mr. Raju and Mr. Somnath in basketball, and Mr. Raj in handball equipped the teams with the necessary tools for motivation and inspiration – proof enough of their tremendous commitment to their task and responsibility.  Three cheers!