Milind Deora Soccer Championship: Rudolph D'Souza & Uzair Ansari win QPR training stint!

More then 4,100 children participated and in the end Rudolph D’Souza (St Mary’s SSC, Mazagaon) and Uzair Ansari (St Ignatius, Jacob Circle) are the winners of the fourth edition of the Milind Deora Junior Soccer Championship organised in association with English Premier League club Queens Park Rangers FC. The two boys will now get the chance of a lifetime through a four week training stint in London at QPR.The 12-year-old Rudolph D’Souza and 14-year-old Uzair Ansari were selected from the final 30 – 24 boys and six girls, who were trained by QPR Academy and local coaches, before the two winners were selected from the finalists.

This year, the tournament witnessed over 4,100 students from 200 schools, with teams in the under-8, U-10, U-12, U-14, U-16 and U-18 categories of boys and girls competing at Mumbai‘s Western Railways football grounds at Lower Parel. The Championship is open to all South Mumbai schools including Municipal schools, Government aided schools and Private schools. The tournament will provide an equal and fair opportunity to talents from different backgrounds to showcase their skills on a common platform.

QPR’s Head of Academy Richard Allen said, “It’s a great opportunity for us at Queens Park Rangers to work with kids. There were some really talented kids this time around. We hope we can train them well at our London academy and help them grow. We hope this relationship can build year on year, so more kids can have the same opportunity.”

The tournament is organised by the Milind Deora Initiative and EPL side Queens Park Rangers in association with Coca Cola India and Nirmal Lifestyles, while being managed by Saran Sports.