ALL THE ACTION FROM HT GIFA SEASON FOUR

HT GIFA Season Four was a power-packed journey right from the start! Catch all the action, on and off the field, here

Over the two months of footballing action, a star-studded opening ceremony and the best of on-field rivalry made this year’s SARE Homes HT GIFA, a celebration like no other. The registrations for the tournament began on July 15 and soon saw over 2,500 teams joining the fourth season of the biggest neighbourhood football tournament — SARE Homes HT GIFA. After intense training sessions, pre-qualifiers and voting, 346 teams (316 qualified teams and 30 wild card entries) made it to the League matches. The grand celebration of the game kicked-off on September 16 with a starstudded opening ceremony that saw the Khiladi of Bollywood, Akshay Kumar. Acts by Delhibased multi genre Hindi band Astitva and Zenith Dance Troupe, and the unmatched energy of TV actor and emcee Rithvik Dhanjani made the ceremony bigger, better and grander. The final league matches of the tournament took place over the two weekends at Ansal University (Gurgaon) and CWG Sports Complex (Delhi) where teams battled it out for the cup of dreams. Finally, four teams — two senior and two junior — bagged the GIFA trophy on October 8. Dream Killers Jr won in the Junior Girls category by defeating Keepyuppy Juniors by 2-1, while Soccer Diva’s secured the top spot in the Senior Girls category by defeating South City Girls FC with a score of 3-2. Young Gunners crushed their competition FC Marvy with a score of 2-0 and bagged the trophy in the Senior Boys category, while Team Vatika VFA won against Madrista Boy’s with a score of 1-0 in the Junior Boys Category.

Scoring a total of nine goals each throughout the matches in the tournament, Shravan Chowdhry (Palms FC) and Rishab Dobrial (Young Gunners) won the Golden Boot Trophy — awarded for the maximum goals scored during the tournament. Catch all the action from the fourth season of HT GIFA here.

Over the past four years, the love and support that GIFA has received from parents and children has made it India’s largest neighbourhood football tournament ASHU PHAKEY, COO, HINDUSTAN TIMES

GIFA has established itself as a celebrated platform for young kids to showcase their talent and become the future of Indian sport RAJAN BHALLA, CMO, HINDUSTAN TIMES

LaLiga partnered with HT GIFA because it is the largest neighbourhood tournament in India JOSE ANTONIO CACHAZA, COUNTRY MANAGER INDIA, LALIGA

The girls had put in a lot of effort and won despite having exams just before their matches. This is wonderful PRAMITI KAPOOR, MANAGER, DREAMKILLERS JR (WINNERS)

HT GIFA is a fantastic platform for young footballers. I’m glad the girls won in their category SAURABH GOSWAMI, FATHER OF AABRITI GOSWAMI (SOCCER DIVAS)

We had participated in various tournaments and trained hard for this win. It was well-deserved DINESH BISHT, COACH, YOUNG GUNNERS

Cosco is proud to be associated with HT GIFA, which is a comprehensive grassroots level event in India NEERAJ JAIN, DIRECTOR COSCO

We are a close-knit team. We work and play together. I can’t express the joy that we felt after winning HT GIFA ANUPAM PANDEY, COACH, TEAM VATIKA VFA

Emcee Rithvik Dhanjani cutting the HT GIFA birthday cake alongside GIFA, the official mascot for HT GIFA (Above) Delhi-based multi-genre Hindi band Astitva during their performance at the grand opening ceremony of HT GIFA

Team Vatika VFA (in green) in a match with rivals GZB Warriors (in orange) Team Soccer Diva’s (in orange) during a match with team Dream Killers Sr. (in green)

PHOTOS: RAAJESAH KASHYAP AND MANOJ VERMA /HT Akshay Kumar shakes a leg to Bollywood numbers with the members of Zenith Dance Troupe at the grand opening ceremony of HT GIFA

Team Madrista Boy’s (in orange) during a match against team Los Galacticos FC (in green)

PHOTOS: MANOJ VERMA /HT (Left) The HT GIFA trophies and the Volkswagen Golden Boot trophy (in the middle) at the venue; (below) Team Immortal Challengers (in orange) enter the ground with rival team FC United (in green)

Players of Keepyuppy Juniors team lineup before the final match at the CWG Sports Complex

Emcee Kanishk Tyagi during the closing ceremony of HT GIFA