Sydney-bound youngsters from Gujarat claim they were told by airline staff they would not get seats till Feb 17 due to the rush as WC fans headed Down Under.
Five under-16 cricketers from Ahmedabad were in for heartbreak after their Singapore Airlines flight from Mumbai was cancelled at the last moment, robbing them of their maiden trip to Australia and a chance to play for a Sydney club on February 14 - the day the ICC Cricket World Cup gets underway at Melbourne.
Atharva Javeri, Darshil Solanki, Arham Vineet Javeri, Naishal Patel and Vedant Brahmbhatt, accompanied by coaches Bhavin Solanki (41) and Rakesh Patel (42) were to participate in a special cricket camp in Sydney. The trip was part of a cricket exchange programme between the governments of Gujarat and Australia.
However, after reaching Mumbai Airport on Tuesday night and being made to wait for 10 hours, the group was told their flight (SQ 423) had been cancelled due to 'technical reasons' and the next available flight was on February 17.
The kids were scheduled to play three one-day and Twenty20 matches each at Adelaide and Sydney between February 14 and 26. "We were literally begging the airline staff to accommodate us on another, but the airport manager kept on saying that all flights were full till February 17 due to the World Cup, and accommodating us is next to impossible," Darshil said.
13/02/15 Bipin Kumar Singh/Mumbai Mirror
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Five under-16 cricketers from Ahmedabad were in for heartbreak after their Singapore Airlines flight from Mumbai was cancelled at the last moment, robbing them of their maiden trip to Australia and a chance to play for a Sydney club on February 14 - the day the ICC Cricket World Cup gets underway at Melbourne.
Atharva Javeri, Darshil Solanki, Arham Vineet Javeri, Naishal Patel and Vedant Brahmbhatt, accompanied by coaches Bhavin Solanki (41) and Rakesh Patel (42) were to participate in a special cricket camp in Sydney. The trip was part of a cricket exchange programme between the governments of Gujarat and Australia.
However, after reaching Mumbai Airport on Tuesday night and being made to wait for 10 hours, the group was told their flight (SQ 423) had been cancelled due to 'technical reasons' and the next available flight was on February 17.
The kids were scheduled to play three one-day and Twenty20 matches each at Adelaide and Sydney between February 14 and 26. "We were literally begging the airline staff to accommodate us on another, but the airport manager kept on saying that all flights were full till February 17 due to the World Cup, and accommodating us is next to impossible," Darshil said.
13/02/15 Bipin Kumar Singh/Mumbai Mirror
