Future Hope under 20s rugby squad are Champions of India.

24th July 2010

The lads from Future Hope returned from Mumbai today as under 20 champions of India having defeated very competitive sides from all over India at the tournament held at the Bombay Gymkhana Mumbai.

 Future hope was invited to take part in the All India under 20's schedule from the 17th to the 21st July 2010. A total of 12 teams took part from all over India in the first division of this tournament.  The teams taking part included The Bombay Gymkhana, Bombay Rhino, Magicians, Pune, Chennai, Delhi Lions, Bhubaneswar, VPCC (Mumbai), Kiss (Orissa), Jungle Crows Kolkata & Future Hope.

Future Hope was ranked 12th since they had not taken part in the previous tournament.

Future Hope's Harlequins first game was on the 18th against Pune at 3.30pm and Future Hope came out winner 29 nil.

With a very tight schedule Future Hope had to play the very next day at 9am against Chennai Cheetahs and again came out with a fantastic win 34 - nil.

With the league matches over Future Hope were pitted to play the favourites and home team Bombay Gymkhana in the first semi final on the 20th July.  This was a very tough match for the Future Hope lads since there was no time to recover from the previous day’s match, and the Gymkhana team was physically much bigger.  The Future Hope team were clearly the under dogs and played a tough 60 minutes of intense rugby.  However with sheer determination, speed and fitness the Future Hope Harlequins hammered the Gymkhana 24 nil, and entered the final to play the fellow Kolkata team Jungle Crows the next day on the 21st July.

The final meant everything to the Future Hope Harlequins, having travelled by train for almost one and a half days and played three tough games daily; Future Hope Harlequins was determined to rap this under the belt too.

The final was scheduled 40 minutes each half, and kick off at 5pm. With the monsoon at its peak, the pitch flooded badly, the tension building up; the Future Hope Harlequins took to the field.

All the teams were watching and at half time the score was 20 to 3; with a bit of encouragement and a team talk the Future Hope Harlequins headed on. As the final whistle was blown Future Hope Harlequins had emphatically won with a final score card of 34 to 3.

This is an all India first as the Future Hope Harlequins under 16 rugby team became the Champions of India in the All India under 16's tournament held at Orissa in April 2010.  This all bodes well for the development of rugby in India.