Goa's Yash Salunkhe won the gold in boys U-14 category at the 61st edition of National School Games in squash which concluded in Chennai, Sunday. He also led the U-14 boys team which went on to win bronze in team event, while the girls U-17 and U-19 teams from Goa also won bronze in the team event
The Goan Network
Panaji
Goa's Yash Salunkhe won the gold in boys U-14 category at the 61st edition of National School Games in squash which concluded in Chennai, Sunday. He also led the U-14 boys team which went on to win bronze in team event, while the girls U-17 and U-19 teams from Goa also won bronze in the team event.
Yash who was runner-up at the CCI Squash Tournament in Mumbai in November, 2015 went on to win the only gold that Goa achieved in the event. He won the finals against Druv Wazirani of Mumbai, 3-0. In the semi-finals, he won against Atharva Yadav from Delhi, 3-0, an ex Goa player and in the quarter-finals he won against a player from Tamil Nadu.
This is the first-ever gold for Yash and indeed a huge morale booster for this young lad who is gradually but surely transforming into a dependable player.
This year, Goa had fielded a huge contingent of children - 22 in all in six categories in the National School Games which saw participation from nine teams. The teams were from Tamil Nadu, Assam, Delhi, CBSE Welfare Board, Goa, Maharashtra, IPSC, Gujarat and Vidya Bharathi. Competitions were held in U-14, 17 and 19 categories for boys and girls.
The Goan team was led by coach Rehman Hubli assisted by three managers Seema Mattas, Karuna Sharma and Lalan Naik. Other players in the team were as follows: Bronze winners - Boys U-14 Yash Salunkhe, Sairam Wani, Aaryan Naik; Boys U-17: Armaan Chowfin, Ayush Naique, Sheersh Chowdhary, Arjun Karkare. Boys U-19: Aditya Dayal, Harsh Jain and Harsh Bhinder. Girls U-14: Prashasti Mattas, Anushka Rawat, Ishita Sharma, Isha Shirodkar, Tanishka. Bronze winners: Girls U-17:Sparshi Mattas, Sukrita Panigrahi, Avantika Jain, Muskan Majid. Bronze winners- Girls U-19: Saloni Menon, Sejal Naik, Bipasha Rawat.
This was the largest team Goa ever fielded in these games in last three years. Squash was introduced in the SGFI games in 2013 itself.
