4 young footballers from Mumbai set to travel London based QPR for an exposure tour hosted by Saran Sports

by Rounak Majumdar September 30, 2019

Four talented young players from Mumbai have received an opportunity to train at the London based Queens Park Rangers setup. The selected athletes are two girls and two boys who were successful after a series of talent hunts organised by Milind Deora led Saran Sports. The boys and girls will head to Queens Park Rangers to undergo training at the QPR Academy for a fortnight. The four youngsters were picked based on their overall footballing prowess at a special talent hunt camp of the QPR South Mumbai Junior Soccer Challenger – A Milind Deora initiative, which was conducted back in December 2018.

The selected players are,  Yohaanne Poonawala (Bombay International School), Sagar Rathod (Colaba Municipal Upper Primary English), Nishka Prakash (Edubridge International) and Aditi Pandire (Sai Baba Path Mumbai Public School). Deora presented the four players with the QPR team jerseys and the necessary documents for their departure to London which is scheduled for October 2.

The 10^th edition of the QPR-South Mumbai Junior Soccer Challenger 2018 – A Milind Deora initiative, in partnership with English Club Queens Park Rangers (QPR) is India’s largest community football event. The event was conceived and managed by Saran Sports.

Mr. Milind Deora has been hosting this event for a decade now.

“I am proud of how far we have come in the past decade. In the last 10 years, I have seen boys growing up to become men. Many have thanked me for keeping the tournament alive so that it may empower thousands more. I am extremely grateful to everyone who has been a part of it, especially QPR and our valued sponsors such as Aditya Birla Group, Axis Bank, Surf  and Credit Suisse,” Deora said at the function

Mr Deora also opined about the increased women participation which has taken place over the years.

“With the participation of girls reaching 30% it is truly remarkable. In the past two years girls, too, have been selected to travel to the QPR Academy, London,” he mentioned

The championship attracted as many as 6600 children from 165 schools representing over 800 teams. Over 1000 matches were played. Besides 30% of the participants were girls and as many as 75% of the participants were from municipal and government aided schools.

Sixty children were shortlisted for a special talent hunt camp conducted by professional coaches after which four talented youngsters bagged the tickets to London.

This opportunity is going to be a life time experience for the kids to train at the famed QPR Academy which produced English striker Raheem Sterling who shifted as a youngster to Liverpool in 2010 and is currently playing for Manchester City.

Information of the selected candidates

Sagar Rathod – 13 years old (Attacking Midfield)

• Played for Oscar Foundation SSE in the Euro Cup, Portugal
  ·Played for Oscar Foundation SSE in London
  ·         Playing I-League U13

Nishka Prakash – 14 years old (Centre Forward)

• Plays in MDFA Women’s Division
  ·Played in WIFA Women’s League
  ·         Trained with FCB Escola in Mumbai

Yohaanne Poonawala – 14 years old (Centre back)

• Plays for Mumbai District U14
  ·Plays for MDFA U14

Aditi Pandire – 13 years old (Attacking Midfield)

• Plays in DSO U14
  ·Attended BVB Evonic Camp

Photo caption: Milind Deora (centre) presented the QPR jerseys to the four players (from left to right) Yohaanne Poonawala (Bombay International School), Aditi Pandire (Sai Baba Path Mumbai Public School), Sagar Rathod (Colaba Municipal Upper Primary English) and Nishka Prakash (Edubridge International).

QPR 7: Milind Deora present the QPR jerseys to Aditi Pandire (Sai Baba Path Mumbai Public School),

QPR 8: Milind Deora present the QPR jerseys to Sagar Rathod (Colaba Municipal Upper Primary English).

For more information contact:
Pratik, Saran Sports
Mob: 9821863886

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