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Satara team dominates state malkhamb championship
They outperformed teams like Pune, Mumbai Suburban and Mumbai City.
Pune: Four gold, one silver and one bronze tell the story as Satara delivered an impressive performance in the team championship at the 39th state malkhamb championship at Tilak road on Sunday.
Satara outperformed teams like Pune, Mumbai Suburban, Mumbai City.
“We have four centres in Satara where malkhamb is practiced every day. The sport flourished first at Anant English School,” said Aditya Ahire, coach of Satara.
Advanced facilities way behind Mumbai and Pune did not stop Satara from being consistent with practice sessions and delivering podium finishes.
“We do not have quality mats at all our centres like Mumbai and Pune, but our players practice regularly,” said Ahire.
In the under-14 girls’ category, Satara scored 39.30 points to outplay Mumbai Suburban (38.90) and Pune (38.20) respectively, while boys scored 39.50 points to grab top spot ahead of Mumbai Suburban (39.10) and Pune (39.05).
“Rural Satara centres like Wai, Khandala, Mahabaleshwar and Kari are producing good players and those coming from village are very skilful,” he said.
Above-16 girls collected 41.50 points ahead of Mumbai City (39.70) and Mumbai Suburban (39.65). Boys in the under-18 category scored 118.37 points to beat Pune (117.60) and Mumbai Suburban (116.65)
“I was six years old when I started doing malkhamb. I was also part of the u-14 team that won gold in last year’s state championship. I am 13 now and other players were competing for the first time,” said Prasad Patil, a member of boys’ u-14 Satara team.
Bhakti More is performing malkhamb since her nursery days.
“My cousin sister is a malkhamb player. I used to accompany her to the ground and started taking interest in the sport after watching her practice,” said More, who represented the Satara under-14 girls’ team.
Under-14 team members:
Girls: Bhakti More, Shreya Kumbhar, Akanksha Barge, Swamini Karanjkar
Boys: Prasad Patil, Om Patil, Sahil Farate, Pranva Yadav, Abhay Ranjane, Om Kadam
Results (team championship)
Girls:
Under 12: 1. Mumbai Suburban (38.94); 2. Satara(38.50); 3. Pune (37.95)
Under-14: 1. Satara (39.30); 2. Mumbai Suburban (38.90); 3. Pune (38.20)
Under-16: 1. Mumbai city (39.75); 2. Pune (47.35); 3. Satara (46.90)
Above-16: 1. Satara (41.50); 2. Mumbai City (39.70); 3. Mumbai Suburban (39.65)
Boys
Under-12: 1. Mumbai Suburban (37.65); 2. Satara (37.14); 3. Pune (37.05)
Under-14: 1. Satara (39.50); 2. Mumbai Suburban (39.10); 3. Pune (39.05)
Under-18: 1. Satara (118.37); 2. Pune (117.60); 3. Mumbai Suburban (116.65)
Above-18: 1. Mumbai Suburban (123.57); 2. Pune (115.55); 3. Mumbai City (112.40)
