Pune (Maharashtra) [India], June 11 : Odisha beat Maharashtra in the finals of the 10th senior national Rugby 7s Championship by a huge margin of 31-7 at the Balewadi Stadium on Saturday. This event acts as a platform for players to showcase their talent as they look for a spot in the Indian team, informed Indian Rugby Football Union (IRFU).
"Whether it is gold, silver or bronze, all the junior girls and women have played extremely well and displayed some formidable talent. Congratulations to all the players. This is a big year for Indian Rugby - we have the upcoming Asian Games that we hope to participate in, the Asian Trophy as well as the Olympic Qualifiers in November. And these Nationals are one of the events from which we will be selecting our national camp invitees for those three international tournaments. Well played to all and see a few of you at the National Camps!" said Rahul Bose, President of IRFU at the prize distribution of the championship.
In the senior's event, Odisha was hard to catch up with, even though Maharashtra showed a spirited effort. The semi-finals leading up to the finale saw Odisha beat West Bengal 26-5 and Maharashtra beat Kerala 14-5 in their respective matches.
"We are happy for winning the championship, we played very well against Maharashtra and have worked very hard for the last 2 months at the state camp. I am very happy with the performance of my team mates. Finally, I would like to thank our coaches, Odisha Rugby, the Odisha government, and Rugby India for their continued support. Hope to see many players from Odisha in the Indian team." said Mama Naik, Forward Prop, Odisha after her team won the senior championships.
Earlier in the event, Odisha dominated the Maharashtra junior girls' team by a score of 52-0 in the finals. Odisha beat their close competitors Bihar 22-17 in the semi-finals whilst the other finalist Maharashtra beat West Bengal 29-5.
This wraps up the junior girls' and senior women's events. The junior boys and men's event will start on June 14 and will culminate on the June 18, 2023.
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