Nilam Patil dreams big for Hong Kong rugby games

Hailing from a small village in Kagal, Nilam Patil will be living her dream and travelling with the Indian girls rugby team to Hong Kong to participate in the Asia U-20 Girls Rugby Sevens Championship. The 18-year-old athlete plays wrestling and kabaddi as well and had to skip the possibility of representing her state in kabaddi as it clashed with the selection trials, followed by a two-week preparatory camp for the U-20 Girls Rugby Sevens tournament.  

Nilam is part of the 12-member squad captained by Mumbai girl Ruchi Shetty. Gargee Walekar who was part of the U-18 Girls team for Rugby Sevens in Paris last month is the third girl from Maharashtra in the squad. A total of seven countries will participate in the two-day event from Friday onwards.

“I missed the earlier international tournament as my passport wasn’t ready due to pending police verification. I had lost hope for this opportunity as well but thankfully the passport came in time. I was selected for the kabaddi tournament as well but this was a big opportunity so I decided to skip that,” Nilam said.

Nilam has trained with Olympic wrestler Babita Kumari Phogat in Satara and has done well in kabaddi and athletics also but she wants to excel in rugby. “I trained with Babita when she came for a wrestling camp in Satara. It was a great experience. I love tackling in kabaddi. I have good speed and have done well in athletics as well. But all these games help me in rugby. Ultimately, it is rugby that I want to excel in,” she said.

Like other girls in the U-20 Rugby squad she too is targeting the 2018 Asian Games to be held in Jakarta next year. “I have played two nationals in rugby and I am aiming to play in the Asian Games in rugby sevens and do well there. This tournament in Hong Kong will give me my first dose of international exposure,” she added.

Despite her village not having any sports culture, Nilam is more than up for battling adversities. “I have to practice alone as there are no girls and I play kabaddi with the village boys. Whenever there is a training camp (in rugby, wrestling or kabaddi), it is the only opportunity I get to train with other girls. Thankfully, I face no opposition from my parents as they have complete faith in me,” she signed off.