Our Own High School (OOHS) Al Warq’a under-19 football team triumphed at the UAE CBSE Cluster Championship by edging Abu Dhabi Indian School 3-2 on penalties.
Played at DPS Dubai, OOHS started the competition beating Ajman Indian School 6-0 before running out 4-2 winners against IHS Dubai. The next two games were close but they came out on top with 1-0 wins over Gulf Asian School in the quarter-finals and NIMS Dubai in the semi-finals.
In the final, OOHS were given a stern test as Abu Dhabi Indian School remained on target at 2-2, but Our Own held their nerve to seal a 3-2 win and lift the trophy.
Meanwhile, after a marathon 18-18 penalty shoot-out, organisers felt neither team deserved to lose and declared Winchester School Jebel Ali and St Mary’s School as joint winners of the 30th Our Own Sharjah Inter School tournament.
In a closely-fought game and despite opportunities for both teams, neither side could break the deadlock. With the match ending scoreless, the final had to be decided in a penalty shoot-out. With all five penalties scored, it went to sudden death. And after a marathon shoot-out that failed to break the deadlock, organisers decided to share the championship.
Winchester’s Sahem Kabir Sudhir was awarded best player of the tournament, and his coach Neijin Pathrose was thrilled to see his team lift the trophy.
He said: “I am proud of my boys for having won this prestigious trophy. All credit should go to my boys who have shown their dedication and determination delivering a positive team spirit.
Elsewhere, Uptown Schools girls under-12s maintained their unbeaten record as goals from Amal Al Khaja and Hannah Roberts sealed a 2-1 win over Dubai English Speaking College in the DASSA league.
Roberts then continued her impressive form as her brace helped Uptown beat GEMS Wellington Academy 4-2. Al Khaja and Milly Thackray were the other goalscorers for Uptown in the away game at Wellington Academy.
OOHS squad: Alister Raif, Sajan Varughese, Ehaab Wahid, Benjamin Joseph, Asif Ameer, Faadil Fasly, Adil Mohammad, Ashwin.V, Anush Prabhu, Fazal Firoz, Neil Sabin, Mohd Nafees, Mani Haridas, Mansoor Rahim, Yash Zarekar, Shahid Badr and Raahin Hariz.
Amity reach maiden final with Manipal win
Amity University made it to their first-ever Maxtalent Global Sports Pride Cup final where they will take on defending champions Heriot Watt.
In the first semi-final at the Fairgrounds Oval in Dubai, Amity University beat Manipal by three wickets as Jay Joshi hit an unbeaten 73 off 28 balls to help his side post 178-2 in their 20 overs.
Amity’s skipper Abhinav Guha gave his team the ideal start before falling for 43. His team continued to score the runs thanks to Joshi’s effort and a valuable contribution from Mohd Omer (29).
Chasing, Manipal lost two early wickets but Syed Yaseen (53) and Glickson Correa (45) put on a partnership of 92. After both departed, Manipal struggled and could only reach 143-7.
In the other match, Heriot Watt were at their dominant best to register a 60-run win over three-time winners American University of Sharjah.
Batting first, Heriot Watt posted 170-6 thanks to the efforts of captain Rohit Singh’s unbeaten 98. At one point, Heriot Watt were four wickets down with just 21 runs on the scorecard.
Singh and Abdullah Pasha (34) rescued the innings for their team.
American University of Sharjah failed to reach the target with Syed Hammad (27) top-scoring for his team as they finished the innings at 110-9.