Parul Institute lift Gaekwad trophy

VADODARA: Parul Institute boys defeated Baroda Football Club (BFC) in the finals of the Maharaja Fatehsinhrao Pratapsinhrao Gaekwad football tournament to lift the historic trophy on Thursday evening.
Parul defeated BFC by 2-1 to win the tournament for the first ever time. Twelve teams had participated in the tournament that was held at M S University pavilion ground. Rohit Rawat of Parul Institute scored two goals in the finals while Zaid Baloch of BFC scored one.
"It's a very big achievement for us and all the credit goes to our boys and the coach. We are very happy to have lifted the historic trophy that is one of the oldest in Gujarat," said Devanshu Patel, managing trustee of Parul Group of Institutes.
Baroda District Football Association (BDFA) secretary, Sandip Desai said that the tournament received very good response. "This tournament has always attracted the best of the teams and this year was also no exception. Parul boys played well and kept their nerve in the finals to lift the trophy," Desai told TOI.
Vadodara Chambers of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) president, Nilesh Shukla was chief guest at the awards ceremony along Devanshu Patel and P B Thumar, director of MSU’s physical education department.
Rohit Rawat was awarded best player of the tournament, Stephen Fernandez of BFC was awarded best goalkeeper and Divyanshu Gaekwad took away promising player of the tournament award.
The silver trophy lifted by Parul Institute is one of the oldest tournament trophies in Gujarat. Maharaja Fatehsinhrao Gaekwad had donated the trophy to the BDFA in 1978. BDFA is now planning to ascertain antique value of the trophy and also insure it.