The Air India Football Tournament was beautifully organized by Air India for its travel partners on 19th November 2016 at the Air India Ground, Kalina. With a total of 16 teams participating, the competition seemed tough, but as they say, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going!”
Our 1st Encounter was with Veena World ‘A’, and having never played together as a Team, our chances to win the game were very dicey! As the game began, it took us about 5 mins to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Eventually we began a Goal Festival wherein, we ended up winning the game with a margin of 9 – 0, with Ian scoring 5, Ellison scoring a Hat trick and Abdul finding the net once.
The next game was against the previous winners and Title favorites, AKBAR TRAVELS ‘A’. With both the teams under pressure to get the best out of each other, the game was a fast paced one, with quick movements and immense scoring opportunities. Eventually, we broke the deadlock, when Ellison netted the 1st Goal of the game, to which they immediately countered and scored an equalizer. The 2nd half saw great attempts on target, however, the game ended in a draw. In the tie breakers, Rohan K and Abdul scored fabulous goals to steal the game away from the defending champions.
The Semi Finals was with an Energetic Team, ‘AMEX’ After having played 2 games together now and understanding each other’s temperament, we began the game aiming for nothing else but enjoying ourselves and hoping victory would follow. The game ended 5 – 0, with Ian scoring a brace, Ellison, Rohan and Abdul scoring 1 each.
Finally, the team that everyone considered to be the underdogs were here, in the Finals, shocking everyone out there. Our spirits were high, but focus unperturbed. We were ‘In it to Win it’.
The finals were against Ezeego, a Team that had veterans playing, who had been playing with each other for years now. All we told ourselves was, ‘ We have made it upto here, now let’s just do it!’
The game began and their experience was clearly evident on the field, as they controlled the entire match. The Goalkeeper Ravi pulled off some exceptional match winning saves, keeping them longing for a goal. After an entertaining and nail biting game of football, the Match ended in favor of Thomas Cook winning 3-2, with Ian scoring a brace again and Ellison pulling off another one.
Finally, we, Thomas Cook were the winners of the Air India Football Tournament 2016! We could hardly believe it! Hurray!
–Ellison Gois–
Assistant Manager – MICE Contracting & Operations