Softball was introduced in Gujarat National Games for the first time and Maharashtra men's team coached by city's Piyush Ambulkar brought laurels to the state by clinching gold medal.
Ambulkar shared his maiden National Games experience with Lokmat Times. On their way to the gold, Maharashtra won three matches (against Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Gujarat) in league stage and emerged pool topper. Then in the super league stage, they lost to Chhattisgarh and recorded a victory over Andhra Pradesh. In the final, Maharashtra ended the dominance of Chhattisgarh defeating them 1-0 for the title.
Ambulkar, an international player and Shiv Chhatrapati award recipient, said, “Youngsters played an important role in Maharashtra's victory. Most were playing at the national level for the first time. They played with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Last year, we won the gold medal in nationals and maintained that tempo in the National Games also. The 10-day training camp held at Jalgoan helped us identify the team combination,” he said.
About the strategy, the coach said, “Chhattisgarh were the winners in nationals for five times and we had an idea we would clash against them in the final. We had chalked out a strategy against them. In the super league match, we dropped our main pitchers Pawan Khede and Gaurav Choudhary. The idea was not to expose them to the opponents before final. Our strategy worked. Both played well and scripted a 1-0 victory for Maharashtra,” he said.
Ambulkar said apart from them, Suresh Talwalkar, Sourabh Tokse, Nagpur players Prathmesh Wagh and Seolkar also displayed outstanding performances at crucial moments. The performance of junior world No 1 Pawan proved critical for Maharashtra's success.
Ambulkar said now the immediate target was Federation Cup and the Senior Nationals to be held in December. “We would like to maintain consistency and for that, we will hold 12-day preparatory camp for both events.”