The Karnataka team, comprising several athletes from Kodagu, created history by winning the gold medal for the first time at the national-level Cestoball championship.At the tournament held in Telangana, the Karnataka boys’ team defeated Vidarbha 21-18 in the quarter-finals and registered a commanding victory in the semi-finals before defeating Punjab 58-30 in the final to emerge champions in the 4th Sub-Junior Tournament.
The girls’ team initially lost to Kerala but later drew against Telangana. The team secured the highest scores against Assam and Chandigarh to qualify for the semi-finals, where it defeated a strong Tamil Nadu side. Karnataka then went on to defeat Andhra Pradesh in the final and clinch the championship title.
Johnson of Kushalnagar served as the coach of the Karnataka team, while Manjunath and Chandrashekhar, also from Kushalnagar, served as assistant coaches.
Dinesh of Kushalnagar Kannada Bharathi Undergraduate College captained the Karnataka boys’ team, while Sanjana of St. Annamma School, Virajpet, led the girls’ team. The boys’ team comprised Chiranth, Ryan, Jeevan, Chandan, Suhan, Sukhev, Alvin, Tarun, Gautam, Harsh, Chandan, Hemanth and Mishab. The girls’ team included Bhavishya, Jasmine, Deepthi, Arundhati, Chasmita, Sharlyn, Bhuvana, Supiya, Dhanya, Honal and Chaitanya.
Madikeri MLA Dr. Mantar Gowda felicitated the Karnataka team members by presenting medals. Teams from several states participated in the tournament.
The organisers stated that the sub-junior boys’ and girls’ teams were formed and trained with the objective of promoting the sport of Cestoball in Karnataka.
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