the goan I network
PANAJI
Grid Iron and M7 won the Men's and Women's championship titles respectively at the DBO Open Futsal 2017 from August 11-13 at the DBO Indoor court, Panaji.
There were 32 men's teams and nine women's teams vying for the championship slot. For the first time DBO included women's category in the fray and they played with spirit as their performances were commendable. In the women's section, Silent Killers (Margao) clashed with M7 B to comfortably overpower the B team 3-0, while in the next semi-final M7 A edged past VIPERS 3-2 in the penalty shootouts, after a stiff 1-1 draw during playtime.
The finals witnessed a classic North-South Goa clash with M7 making a comfortable win 3-0 to claim the title with Anline, Stessi and Velanie scoring a goal apiece. In the men's category, Seasonal 7 met Gridiron in the first semi-final clash grilling their way through in the initial four rounds, where the latter slipped ahead with a last minute goal 1-2. In the second semi-final, First Timers easily proved their strength with 5 tomatoes 3-0 to ensure their berth to the title clash. The finals were a perfect set with the experienced First Timers facing the just regrouped Grid Iron. Both the teams kept their nerve with constant scoring and pressure till the last minute with scores tied at 3-3 till 30 seconds of play left.
The young Grid Iron scored a brace in the dying seconds to clinch the DBO Open Futsal championship. Russell (2 goals), Keegan and Roswold (goal apiece) were instrumental in Grid Iron's win. Velanie Fernandes of M7 and Milind Naik of First Timers were awarded the Best Player awards for women and men respectively. Best Goalkeeper was awarded to Naved of FC Panjim. Zito Godinho was the Chief Guest for the event.
