So the question is what motivated me to finally sit in front of my lappy (which is very usual) and write somethin' on my blog (which is quite unusual) after 8 months ??? The title says it all. My hostel has taken its first step towards Sikandar. For the uninformed, Sikandar is the sports championship that happens every year between hostels that compete for the Prestigious Sikandar Cup here. The games include Basketball, Football, Cricket, Volleyball, TT, Badminton etc. So it's a big thing for any hostel to hoist the cup.
Last year, it was Hostel 9 who took the cup. Last year was also the year when Hostel 14 was established in true sense (id est PGPs started livin here). We had a fair chance of winning Sikandar which we would have managed but for a one run defeat to hostel 12 in the Quarterfinals of Cricket. We've been waiting ever since to regain and make our second year the memorable year if not the first one. Last year, we were the only hostel to be comprised of only PGP 1s (that's the first years). This time, however, PGP 1s have started living in our hostel (Ohh, By the way, I'm a PGP 2 now ... I survived the first year) and some of them are really good sportpersons. Armed with this added pool this time and the same spirit that we carry with us into all the games, we entered the Sikandar Football with hopes high of doing well. Last year, we were considered underdogs (and they were proven wrong on multiple occasions). This year, they didn't repeat that mistake and right from our first game, our team showed everyone that we were tough opponents to face. We understood that too, and our confidence showed. We started Sikandar ...
The first game was against Hostel 11, a good and balanced team. We were black jerseys. We played beautifully although missed a lot of chances and unfortunately conceded a goal due to a penalty. We soon equalised the game and ended with a drawn first match. We knew that we had a lot of chances but we didn't convert. We went into the next match determined to make good the mistakes of the previous games. Hostel 13 was a good team too and the result was the same. Only that this time, we scored first (again missing a lot of shots) and then conceded one. Luck was just not in our favour, we played good games and one mistake in each game cost us the win. Due to point distributions, we had to win our remaining matches to stay alive in the tournament. Hostel 9 was proving to be a weak team this year. Their first match, they lost 3-1 to H10. Their second match they lost 4-0. We knew that this one we had in our hands. We changed our Jerseys to whites for a change of luck. The match turned the tides. We thrashed H9 8-1. We knew that we had the capability, it was just the luck that we had to have on our sides. But it was time we stopped waiting for luck to help us and take reigns and this was perhaps the match that would begin to see our rise.
The next match against H10 proved to be harder than expected. The two teams battled on till half time with no result. Then in the beginning of the second half, they scored. It wasn't a nice time at all. We didn't want to lose it after coming so far. We needed a spark to set us in motion. H 10 helped, the crowd (as is in the case of H 9) started shouting un-pleasantries at our players. This coupled with the rough game that they were exhibiting in the first half, the few minutes remaining (About 15 minutes) and the desperation to win this game pushed Ankush (our captain) over the limits. He started playing their style, giving it back to them when they did. They started falling, quite literally. Things started changing. People could sense the desperation that was creeping in. Ankush became far more aggressive a player and showed them rough. And then came their collapse. Ankush took an awesome shot from far left of their part of the field straight into the goal. The shot was simply stunning and gave us the much needed equilizer. Then the spirits picked up even more radically. We couldn't be satisfied with a draw. A win was what we required to move ahead. Everyone started playing with renewed vigour. The fruits soon followed, when our attacking pressure and Harman's potential header forced them to make a blunder and score a self goal during a corner. The H 14 supporters as well as the players went crazy. Our spirit was unstoppable after that. We knew we had pulled off something incredible and there was nothing they could manage in those remaining 5 minutes to change their destiny! We had reached the semis!!!
The win however was too close for comfort (although the feeling after the match was unfathomable). We were facing Hostel 12 next, a formidable opponent with a very well balanced team and some good strikers of the ball. We had to win this one to be in the Finals. We started the match with high hopes and soon they started playing very well. Their attack in the first half was arguably better than ours. We tried our best to score and as had been the case with all our previous matches, we took a lot of shots at the goal but rarely converted. Their goal keeper was also competent and stopped almost everything that could be. Then it happened, Ray dada, their captain infiltrated our defense and scored a great goal. The H12 crowd started shouting H12 slogans and soon it was half time. We again needed an equalizer to bring us and our spirit back to the game. We played on trying our best and finally Abhinav scored ! We went crazy after that ... everyone came back to the same mode that they had displayed in the last match. We started trying with full force to score another goal and win it. Their goalkeeper was deflecting almost everything, but he goofed up at a place he never expected. Amit Kohar was till then playing on the right wing and rarely took a shot at the goal. He just passed around the ball to our main strikers Ankush and Saurabh. Suddenly without any warning, he unleashed his full force upon the ball, which fortunately was accurately directed. The goalkeeper couldnt reach it before it crashed into the goal. He never expected such a shot at the goal from that direction. We'd done it again, we'd scored twice after being one down. After that, their defense was almost useless. We got a couple of more chances which we didnt convert and finished the game at 2-1. White jerseys were doing the trick and we reached the finals!
There was a very slight probability after the initial drawn matches of going into the semifinals, forget about finals. But we'd made it, against all odds with the same spirit burning inside that had been characteristic of our hostel right from the last year. We started sniffing the football trophy and our opponents were Hostel 4,5,6 (Yeah three against one; actually those hostels have one third capacity of ours, so there, fair game!). They were not known as a great team but had defeated strong teams like 13 and 11. So we had to be careful about them. We started the game well with many chances coming our way (and continuing with the trend) converting none of them. Every now and then, Gaurav (their captain and a good player) would slip into our defense and take a shot, but our defense was good enough for him. The first half went by without anyone getting lucky. We needed to convert the chances we were getting. The ball was consistently in their side of the field and they were giving away a lot of corners for us to score. It was only a matter of time before we converted (or they got lucky like the initial matches). We converted first. Saurabh scored! And what a moment it was...he being one of our main strikers was without a goal for quite some matches and what a moment it was to get a goal. The match never changed course after that. We kept on attacking and putting tremendous pressure on their defense. They succumbed to the pressure with a self goal as there were 15 mins left. And if we didn't have the match sealed already, we had it when one of their defenders scored a very stupid looking own goal under pressure. We were up 3-0 and were on our way to win the Sikandar Football. Nothing changed, we won and boy were we elated. My voice's all heavy now, shouted so much. And then came Ankush's mail to our hostel ...
"In all,
We scored 17 goals....
We saved 100s.....
Winning is not a habit.....
Quitting is....
Winning is a passion...a passion which we once taste, we never want to look back....but it demands hard work, sweat, blood, fight......
We won and never once quit! Quitting is what losers do....
Maybe we lost in TT this year but we didn't quit......we lost last year's football Sikander but we didn't quit....We came back with the same spirit with which we won Basketball last year.....
And here we are "Winners of Football Sikander"!
3 Cheers for Hostel 14! We should get the trophy this time!
-Ankush
"
What a fitting end to the long fight for the trophy!!! and we are still waiting...with the same spirit, with the same rigour. We'll fight and keep on fighting ... until we win ... or we force our opponents to lose. We ain't gonna stay down. It won't be easy to keep that cup away from us for long ! Hell, here we come ..............
Last year, it was Hostel 9 who took the cup. Last year was also the year when Hostel 14 was established in true sense (id est PGPs started livin here). We had a fair chance of winning Sikandar which we would have managed but for a one run defeat to hostel 12 in the Quarterfinals of Cricket. We've been waiting ever since to regain and make our second year the memorable year if not the first one. Last year, we were the only hostel to be comprised of only PGP 1s (that's the first years). This time, however, PGP 1s have started living in our hostel (Ohh, By the way, I'm a PGP 2 now ... I survived the first year) and some of them are really good sportpersons. Armed with this added pool this time and the same spirit that we carry with us into all the games, we entered the Sikandar Football with hopes high of doing well. Last year, we were considered underdogs (and they were proven wrong on multiple occasions). This year, they didn't repeat that mistake and right from our first game, our team showed everyone that we were tough opponents to face. We understood that too, and our confidence showed. We started Sikandar ...
The first game was against Hostel 11, a good and balanced team. We were black jerseys. We played beautifully although missed a lot of chances and unfortunately conceded a goal due to a penalty. We soon equalised the game and ended with a drawn first match. We knew that we had a lot of chances but we didn't convert. We went into the next match determined to make good the mistakes of the previous games. Hostel 13 was a good team too and the result was the same. Only that this time, we scored first (again missing a lot of shots) and then conceded one. Luck was just not in our favour, we played good games and one mistake in each game cost us the win. Due to point distributions, we had to win our remaining matches to stay alive in the tournament. Hostel 9 was proving to be a weak team this year. Their first match, they lost 3-1 to H10. Their second match they lost 4-0. We knew that this one we had in our hands. We changed our Jerseys to whites for a change of luck. The match turned the tides. We thrashed H9 8-1. We knew that we had the capability, it was just the luck that we had to have on our sides. But it was time we stopped waiting for luck to help us and take reigns and this was perhaps the match that would begin to see our rise.
The next match against H10 proved to be harder than expected. The two teams battled on till half time with no result. Then in the beginning of the second half, they scored. It wasn't a nice time at all. We didn't want to lose it after coming so far. We needed a spark to set us in motion. H 10 helped, the crowd (as is in the case of H 9) started shouting un-pleasantries at our players. This coupled with the rough game that they were exhibiting in the first half, the few minutes remaining (About 15 minutes) and the desperation to win this game pushed Ankush (our captain) over the limits. He started playing their style, giving it back to them when they did. They started falling, quite literally. Things started changing. People could sense the desperation that was creeping in. Ankush became far more aggressive a player and showed them rough. And then came their collapse. Ankush took an awesome shot from far left of their part of the field straight into the goal. The shot was simply stunning and gave us the much needed equilizer. Then the spirits picked up even more radically. We couldn't be satisfied with a draw. A win was what we required to move ahead. Everyone started playing with renewed vigour. The fruits soon followed, when our attacking pressure and Harman's potential header forced them to make a blunder and score a self goal during a corner. The H 14 supporters as well as the players went crazy. Our spirit was unstoppable after that. We knew we had pulled off something incredible and there was nothing they could manage in those remaining 5 minutes to change their destiny! We had reached the semis!!!
The win however was too close for comfort (although the feeling after the match was unfathomable). We were facing Hostel 12 next, a formidable opponent with a very well balanced team and some good strikers of the ball. We had to win this one to be in the Finals. We started the match with high hopes and soon they started playing very well. Their attack in the first half was arguably better than ours. We tried our best to score and as had been the case with all our previous matches, we took a lot of shots at the goal but rarely converted. Their goal keeper was also competent and stopped almost everything that could be. Then it happened, Ray dada, their captain infiltrated our defense and scored a great goal. The H12 crowd started shouting H12 slogans and soon it was half time. We again needed an equalizer to bring us and our spirit back to the game. We played on trying our best and finally Abhinav scored ! We went crazy after that ... everyone came back to the same mode that they had displayed in the last match. We started trying with full force to score another goal and win it. Their goalkeeper was deflecting almost everything, but he goofed up at a place he never expected. Amit Kohar was till then playing on the right wing and rarely took a shot at the goal. He just passed around the ball to our main strikers Ankush and Saurabh. Suddenly without any warning, he unleashed his full force upon the ball, which fortunately was accurately directed. The goalkeeper couldnt reach it before it crashed into the goal. He never expected such a shot at the goal from that direction. We'd done it again, we'd scored twice after being one down. After that, their defense was almost useless. We got a couple of more chances which we didnt convert and finished the game at 2-1. White jerseys were doing the trick and we reached the finals!
There was a very slight probability after the initial drawn matches of going into the semifinals, forget about finals. But we'd made it, against all odds with the same spirit burning inside that had been characteristic of our hostel right from the last year. We started sniffing the football trophy and our opponents were Hostel 4,5,6 (Yeah three against one; actually those hostels have one third capacity of ours, so there, fair game!). They were not known as a great team but had defeated strong teams like 13 and 11. So we had to be careful about them. We started the game well with many chances coming our way (and continuing with the trend) converting none of them. Every now and then, Gaurav (their captain and a good player) would slip into our defense and take a shot, but our defense was good enough for him. The first half went by without anyone getting lucky. We needed to convert the chances we were getting. The ball was consistently in their side of the field and they were giving away a lot of corners for us to score. It was only a matter of time before we converted (or they got lucky like the initial matches). We converted first. Saurabh scored! And what a moment it was...he being one of our main strikers was without a goal for quite some matches and what a moment it was to get a goal. The match never changed course after that. We kept on attacking and putting tremendous pressure on their defense. They succumbed to the pressure with a self goal as there were 15 mins left. And if we didn't have the match sealed already, we had it when one of their defenders scored a very stupid looking own goal under pressure. We were up 3-0 and were on our way to win the Sikandar Football. Nothing changed, we won and boy were we elated. My voice's all heavy now, shouted so much. And then came Ankush's mail to our hostel ...
"In all,
We scored 17 goals....
We saved 100s.....
Winning is not a habit.....
Quitting is....
Winning is a passion...a passion which we once taste, we never want to look back....but it demands hard work, sweat, blood, fight......
We won and never once quit! Quitting is what losers do....
Maybe we lost in TT this year but we didn't quit......we lost last year's football Sikander but we didn't quit....We came back with the same spirit with which we won Basketball last year.....
And here we are "Winners of Football Sikander"!
3 Cheers for Hostel 14! We should get the trophy this time!
-Ankush
"
What a fitting end to the long fight for the trophy!!! and we are still waiting...with the same spirit, with the same rigour. We'll fight and keep on fighting ... until we win ... or we force our opponents to lose. We ain't gonna stay down. It won't be easy to keep that cup away from us for long ! Hell, here we come ..............
