PANAJI
After three days of high-intensity action, Crystal Badminators were crowned champions of the inaugural Sanquelim Badminton League (SBL), outgunning LA TARA smashers in nail-biting finals held on Sunday at multipurpose stadium, Sanquelim.
In the battle for third place, Chaitanya Smashers prevailed over MLT Shuttlers.
The league, organised by Sanquelim Shuttlers under the aegis of Goa Badminton Association and the Sports Authority of Goa, was the first official tournament of the season as the sport took its first step towards tournament resumption after the COVID-19 hiatus.
“While coaching camps are being held regularly since May onwards, the 2020-21 tournament season has kick-started with this league championship, a novel initiative by Sanquelim Shuttlers. The players can expect a few more of such events in November and December at other centres,” said Sandeep Heble, the Goa Badminton Association secretary, while complimenting the organising team following the league conclusion.
The winning team consisted of Mustafa Abdullah (team owner), Pralhad Dhawaskar, Yeshwant Gaonkar, Mayushri Ajgaonkar, Rucha Barve, Anil Gawas, Rashmir Matonkar, Sadiq Attar and Navnath Gaonkar. Featuring for the runners-up were Yeshwant Desai (team owner), Prasad Ajgaonkar, Rudra Phadte, Gulshan Palekar, Rohan Naik, Gajanan Khot, Nomaa Sancoalkar, Taishin Shaikh and Pratik Dhawaskar.
The first of its kind professional league for players from Bicholim and Sattari talukas featured 90 players in all with the following nine teams battling out for top honours: Crystal Badminators (team owner - Mustafa Abdullah), La Tara Smashers (Yeshwant Desai), Genius Fighters (Sunil Shirodkar), Ninja Strikers (Anil Nair), Overlockedd Droppers (Ganesh Sawant), Ag Thrashers (Bala Sawant), Chaitanya Smashers (Dr Vishwanath Marathe), Parthivi's Supersmashers ( Parthivi Pramod Sawant) and MLT Shuttlers (Siddhesh Amonkar).
Rudra Phadte, Rucha Barve, Rifa Shaikh and Kaushika Gaonkar were presented with promising player awards. Also, four prominent sportspersons, namely, Christie Dias and Steffi Fernandes (beach volleyball), Wilson D’Souza (badminton) and Pravin Gawas (shooting) were felicitated on the occasion.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant distributed championship prizes and other honours in the presence of Narahar Thakur, president of Goa Badminton Association, Yeshwant Desai, president of Sanquelim Shuttlers and the SBL organising committee team.
