Heading into the 11th Sub Junior Boys National Championships starting March 18 in Haryana, Tushar Durga will lead the 20-member Hockey Maharashtra side. The final roster was determined following two intensive seven-day training camps held at the Balewadi Sports Complex and BK Birla High School. Maharashtra has been drawn into Group H for the eight-day event, where they will face off against teams from Gujarat, Manipur, and Puducherry.
In the upcoming 11th Sub Junior boys national championships, the 20-member Hockey Maharashtra team is touted to be led by Tushar Durga will be held in Haryana from March 18. Two seven-day camps were hosted at the Balewadi Sports Complex and at the BK Birla High School grounds recently. It is after these camps the team has been selected for the state. The championship will be played across 8 days and Maharashtra will be featuring in Group H which also boasts states like Puducherry, Manipur and Gujarat.
The team looks poised for a strong run, though the quality of the playing surface is noted as a potential hurdle. This tournament is particularly important as the Maharashtra side failed to advance past the group stages in the 2019 edition. Furthermore, Bhore pointed out that the competition will be played exclusively on grass, avoiding AstroTurf.
Conroy Remedios has been appointed as the head coach, with Nikhil Golellu overseeing management. The event, hosted at the Rajiv Gandhi Maha Vidyalaya in Uchana (Jind district, Haryana), will feature 24 teams all vying for the national championship title.
Last year's national tournament had to be scrapped due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Now that domestic hockey is making a comeback, young athletes across India are eager to get back into the heat of competition. It's a perfect stage for these rising stars to measure their skills against the best in their age group. For many, this is more than just a game; it's a chance to catch the eye of national selectors and potentially pave a path toward international hockey.
Bijay Kumar Lakra, the coach of the reigning champions Hockey Odisha, recently mentioned in an interview that his players are fully prepared and determined to keep their title. While they acknowledge that other teams will provide stiff competition, they remain confident in their ability to dominate the season. The roster includes:
The team:
The squad consists of Kenan D’souza, Ameya Yadav, Pranav Amin, Vansh Shah, and Pradeep Reddy from Mumbai; captain Tushar Durga along with Akshay Jadhav, Jay Kale, Deepak Chavan, and Pravin Gondole from Pune; Siddharth and Shivam Jadhav from Sangli; Arjun Hargude and Yashraj Patil from Kolhapur; Gopal Metkarm and Rounak Singh from Nanded; Raj Pawar from Akola; and Ganesh Gautam from Aurangabad.