The India U-17 Rugby team will compete at the Asia Rugby U17 Rugby Sevens Championship to be held at the Tainan Municipal Rugby Stadium, Tainan, Taiwan on September, 9 and 10. The squad of 12, which departed on Thursday, has six players from Maharashtra throwing light on how the sport has grown among the youth. Many of them come from humble family backgrounds where one has a father who is an auto-rickshaw driver. Another has an agrarian family.
Based on the performance of Maharashtra in the Boys National Juniors and Men’s Seniors in the Federation Cup, six players from across Maharashtra were selected to be a part of the Indian U-17 team that will play in this tournament.
Earlier this year, the boys team grabbed silver in Junior National’s and their senior counterparts won silver in the Federation Cup. “Over the years, many teens from Mumbai and nearby districts have come out to play Rugby. They are passionate about the game. Half of the squad is filled with boys from Maharashtra, which is a good sign, I think this way we can change silver to gold next year,” said the Indian rugby hero Nasser Hossain. He also trains the team in the Bombay Gymkhana premises.
This tournament will serve as the Qualifiers for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games to be held in Argentina. A total of ten countries from across Asia including China, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Phillippines, Thailand, UAE, Uzbekistan, India and hosts Chinese Taipei will vie for top honors at the championships.
“The team has become better over the years, the talent has risen. Our coaches Sandeep sir and Nasser sir have worked hard to train us. Even we have very less resources, the Maharashtra team has done exceptionally well,” said Pankaj Singh who is from Thane.
Mahesh Mathai, Secretary General, Rugby India said, “This is the first time an Indian U-17 Boys Rugby team is participating in the Qualifiers for the Youth Olympic Games. It is very encouraging to see that the interest for rugby is growing within India, especially at the age-grade level. Our best wishes are with the boys, hope they do their country proud”.
Vikas Dhuriya, Abhishek Yadav, Pankaj Singh, Chaitanya Motwane, Daryush Kapadia and Siddhant Mehta are the players from Maharashtra in the team.
