Troeschina School of Ukraine started their campaign in style with a 8-0 drubbing of PP Savani Chaitanya Vidhyalaya, Gujarat, in their opening match in the U-17 Boys' category of the 54th Subroto Cup football here Thursday.
The Ukraine team dominated proceeding from beginning to end and Gujarat hardly got a shot at the rival goal. Gomeniuk and Dmytro scored a hat-trick each for the winners.
Troeschina are the firm favourites to win the U-17 title, having won the UNICEF Cup in Spain recently.
All the boys are from Kiev and this is only their second outing abroad. Hailing from conditions where current conditions are below 6 degrees celcius, playing in India is a different experience.
In spite of that, their superiority in terms of technique and experience was too much for Gujarat.
"This was an easy match, but we cannot take any team lightly," coach Oleg Ivanshenko said after the match. "The biggest problem today was the weather.
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"They were superior in height as well as technique. But my boys played well and was a great learning experience," said Gujarat Coach Vinod Kantharia.
Friday is a chance to create history for Betkuchi High School, Kamrup, Assam and Government Chawngfianga Middle School, Kolasib, Mizoram in the title clash of the U-14 Boys' category.
Although teams from Mizoram have won the title in the past, it is the first time that Chawngfianga School have entered the final. Assam, meanwhile, have never won the U-14 title and Betkuchi will be eager to script history. Betkuchi, in fact, are the first school from Assam to enter the final of the U-14 category.
Thursday's results:
Govt Model School, Haryana 9 (Ritu 17th, 34th, 46; Pooja 44th, 59th; Sanju 21st, 52nd; Nisha 25th; Jyoti 36th) defeated Nayagram Thana Vidhalaya, Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal 0 (Girls)
NCC (NER) 21 (Sumita 4th, 5th, 28th, 55th; Margeret 15th, 20th, 48th, 57th; Achoubi 21st; Lakshmi Devi 49; Kashmina 50th; Bala 6th, 9th, 41st; Roja 8th, 17th, 18th, 43rd, 54th, 58th, 60th) defeated Fountainhead School, Surat, Gujarat 0 (Girls)
Police High School, Baripada, Odisha 2 (Babujit Behra 422nd; Sangram Hansda 46th) defeated New Sunrise School, Fatehabad, Haryana 1 (Abhilash 10th)
Troeschina School, Ukraine 8 (Gomeniuk 21st, 64th, 68th; Dmytro 27th, 32nd, 38th; Maxim 35th; Kooleksan 56th) defeated PP Savani Chaitanya Vidhyalaya, Sankul, Gujarat 0
New Wellington Ground
RMSM Vidhyalaya, Bishnupur, Manipur 8 (Ranjana Chanu 2nd; Ratanabala Devi 3rd; Grace 5th, 12th, 20th 36th; Kipgen 24th; S Chanu 56th) defeated IPSC 0 (Girls)
Borguri High School, Assam 3 (Oreya 12th, 31st' Kipona Sowasi 42nd) defeated Ahlcon Public School, Delhi 0 (Girls)
The Airforce School 1 (Trishab Ranjan 9th) draws Magurmari High School, Kokrajhar,Assam (Joabla Brahma 62nd)
Vasant Valley School
Tyssad School, Meghalaya 5 (Pynhum Sulhet 8th, 16th, 23rd, 46th; Marriam 35th) defeated Don Bosco, Maharashtra 0 (Girls)
St Mary's School, Salem, Tamil Nadu 16 (Resika 2nd, 9th, 22nd, 46th, 53rd; Vijay Kumari 4th; Nandini 5th, 27th; Malvika 7th, 58th, 59th; Karthika 19th, 30th, 60th; Sangeeta 29th; Jairamia 57th) defeated Air Force Bal Bharti 0 (Girls)