SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Dec 11: Jharkhand boys and girls under-19 badminton teams today left for Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh to participate in the 67th National Games scheduled to be held from December 12 to 16.
This was the first time before sending the teams to the National Games venue, the Jharkhand Education Project Council (JEPC) had organized a 20-day training camp for the selected players at Khel Gaon Ranchi from November 20 to December 10.
The NIS coach, Ravi Kesri, who imparted training to state under-19 and under-17 boys and girls teams, expressed satisfaction over the performance displayed by selected players at the camp and said that teams are strong and he hopes squads can reach the semifinal and final stage in both the categories.
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Players of the teams are (boys)– Sajan Kumar (Ranchi), Nayak Swapnil (Hazaribagh), Ankit Gope (Ranchi), Abu Raiyan (Ranchi).
Girls team- Shruti (Dhanbad), Bhumi Ekghara (Giridih), Anamika Ghosh (Dhanbad), Vaishnavi Singh (Deoghar) and Alisha Guria (Ranchi). Coach Gulam Baki and manager Soni Kumari.
“No doubt the camp period was short but we trained them to catch their peak performance during the match quickly. They adopted the advice soon,” he said.
NIS coach Kesri said along with support staff focused on the physical fitness of players on the court and off-court training. Ravi Kesri also praised the contribution of his support staff Balwinder Singh, Avinash Kumar, Mrinal Mohan and Suman Kumari who left no stone unturned in camp in honing the skills of boys and girls and maintaining their fitness.
Ravi Kesri said under-17 boys and girls teams of the state will participate at the Vadodara (Gujarat) national games scheduled to be held from December 17 to 21. Team (boys) – Ashu Gopal, Deepak Mahto, Sachin Gope, Mohit Raj, Jimmy Gerald Ekka. Girls team- Nandita Sen, Aastika Singh, Holy Sakshi Roba, Jasinta Bilung. Coach Ravi Kesri, Manager Bina Lakra.
Education secretary K Ravi Kumar, JEPC director Kiran Pasi and programme officer Dheersen Soreng congratulated the teams before leaving for the venue and expressed hope that they would be able to perform to their potential and training given in the coaching camp.
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