This follows Maharashtra’s clinical title-winning run at the Dr. Talimeren Ao Junior Girls National Football Championship 2025–26 (Tier 2).

The selected players-Aanshi Khanna (Thane), Aysha Sartape (Thane), Sharvari Mane (Pune), Tanishka Deore (Pune), Anisha Nadar, and Ipshita Gawari-will join India’s premier high-performance center. Additionally, Khanna, Sartape, Mane, and Deore have earned call-ups to the India U-17 Women’s National Team camp as the nation prepares for the AFC U-17 Women’s Asian Cup 2026 in China.

A Dominant Campaign

Maharashtra’s road to the trophy was defined by resilience and attacking flair. Drawn in Group D, they opened with a pulse-pounding 3-3 draw against Mizoram, where Aanshi Khanna netted a brace. They quickly found their rhythm in the second match, a 2-0 win over Madhya Pradesh featuring a strike from Sharvari Mane.

With qualification on the line, Maharashtra unleashed a scoring masterclass against Himachal Pradesh, winning 14-0. Skipper Aysha Sartape led the charge with five goals, supported by clinical finishes from Khanna and Mane. This momentum carried them through the knockout stages, defeating Punjab 1-0 in the semi-final and overwhelming Uttar Pradesh 4-1 in the final to lift the trophy.

The Academy Call-up

While the national team camp recognizes immediate international potential, the selection of Anisha Nadar and Ipshita Gawari alongside the core quartet for the AIFF-FIFA Talent Academy highlights the long-term depth of this squad. The academy, a joint venture between FIFA and the AIFF, provides world-class coaching and sports science aimed at developing the next generation of professional stars.

• ⁠Individual Honors: Sharvari Mane’s relentless consistency throughout the tournament earned her the Best Player of the Tournament award.
• ⁠The Backbone: Tanishka Deore’s composure between the sticks and the defensive solidity provided by Ipshita Gawari and Anisha Nadar were pivotal to Maharashtra’s defensive record in the knockout rounds.
• ⁠A Notable Absence: Despite the wave of selections, striker Aarnaa Sindhav-Maharashtra’s top scorer who found the net in four out of five matches-narrowly missed out on the national call-up, though her performance remains one of the highlights of the tournament.

With India having already secured qualification for the AFC U-17 Women’s Asian Cup 2026 with a perfect record, these young footballers are now entering a high-performance environment that could see them represent the Blue Tigresses on the continental stage. The inclusion of six players in the Telangana academy is a testament to the thriving grassroots ecosystem in Maharashtra.

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The first chance of the match came from a set piece with St Stanislaus’s defender conceding a free kick from the edge of the penalty box. Don Bosco’s captain Ratin Mehta stepped up to take the free-kick . The Don Bosco’s captain struck it quite well forcing St Stanislaus’s goalkeeper for outstretched save to his left to tip the ball over the crossbar.

However, after dominating much of the 1st half it was St Stanislaus who opened score sheet first due to goalkeeping error by Don Bosco’s. St Stanislaus’s captain Marven Pereira pounced onto loose to open the score sheet for St Stanislaus as his side went off the field with a 1-0 advantage.

After conceding the needless goal in first half, Don Bosco’s side started the second half on very on offensive note pressing very high up in the opposition half. St Stanislaus’s side was on receiving end for much of the second half and when they had  the ball they hardly made any move forward perhaps a tactic which eventually cost them the match as their defence failed to respond to constant pressure and conceded late goal and went to loose the match during the penalty shoot-outs resultantly Don Bosco came up as the crowned champions of U 16 division for the season 2016-17.

Talking about the victory Don Bosco’s coach said, “It was a two-year gap since in 2013-14 we lost and in 2014-15 we won in the tiebreaker it was a penalty and it was inside the box . So this year the boys themselves decided to gift me victory and it was certainly a pleasurable moment.”

Addressing about the strategy he said, “They were defensive from the start so we went on offensive as our defence was good and it paid off.” talking about the penalties he said ,” I told them to either in or out with their strong foot because we had our bad share of experience against KC college.”

Communicating about the cooperage stadium and his future plan he said ,” Don Bosco has been good with his sporting divisions which enable us to produce such a good teams and talents. On top of that, the atmosphere at the cooperage is great, we also had good support so overall it was a good day for our boys.” After saying this, the proud coach of the victorious team signed off.

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The Maharashtra team coached by Augusto D’Silva will open their campaign against Gujarat on Wednesday, December 10.

Besides Maharashtra, Gujarat and hosts Goa the other states who will be participating in this competition are Daman & Diu and Madhya Pradesh.

The team: Krish Parekh (Captain), Pranesh Tambe, Paurav  Vakharia, Ankit Saxena, Osama Ansari, Gaston  D’Silva, Shreyas Sail, Shamdul Zankar, Kamran Ansari, Kashif Ansari, Clivert Miller, Krish Adhikari, Vedant Divekar (all from Mumbai); Ruturaj Sankpal, Pranav Kanase, Aniket Varekar (all Kolhapur); Bhuvan S. Jerpoth, Aman Kirnapure (both Nagpur); Yunus  Shaikh  (Pune); Nakul Shelke (Thane).

Coach: Augusto D’Silva  (Mumbai).

Manager: Sunder Raj Francis (Nagpur).

Fixtures of  Group Stage (West Zone):

Dec 10: Maharashtra vs Gujurat.

Dec 14:  Maharashtra vs Daman & Diu.

Dec 16:  Maharashtra vs Madhya Pradesh.

Dec 18: Goa vs Maharashtra.

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