*State eves finish third
Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, June 12: Dethroning 8-time National champion Maharashtra in the finals, Jammu and Kashmir boys emerged champions in 1st Roll Ball Federation Cup, which concluded at Punjab University, Chandigarh, recently.
Prominent eight teams of India participated in this event, in which J&K created history by becoming champions in the senior group.
Playing under the captaincy of International player Rakshak Jandial, en-route to finals Jammu and Kashmir defeated Chhattisgarh (06-04), Madhya Pradesh (10-0), Haryana (09-04) and Punjab (08-06) in the league matches, while in the semi-final Jammu & Kashmir won a thriller against last year’s National runners-up, Utter Pradesh by (06-05) to seal berth in the finals.
Trailing by (03-0) at the half time, the energetic Jammu and Kashmir boys displayed extraordinary skill and grit to not only cover the deficit but also defeat formidable Maharashtra in an exciting contest by (05-04) to end the supremacy of defending champions.
In girls section, Jammu and Kashmir bagged bronze medal by defeating Rajasthan (02-01) in the match for third place.
In this section, en-route to finals, J&K defeated Uttar Pradesh by (04-01) in the semifinal and Madhya Pradesh by (03-01) earlier and played a draw against Chandigarh.
In the semifinal, J&K lost to Maharashtra, while Chhattisgarh eves defeated Maharashtra to claim the title.
International Roll Ball player, Hiteshwar Singh was phenomenal throughout the Tournament. Playing superb game, he displayed serenity and composure and was adjudged the best player of the Championship. He was also highest scorer of the Tournament with 16 goals. In semifinal, he scored 5 out of the 6 goals to guide J&K to finals. The other prominent performers during the Championship were goalkeeper Arjun Dev, Bhanu Sunil Khajuria and Chandan Sharma.
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