Budding roll ball players presented Jharkhand a New Year gift on Tuesday.
The state boys finished runners-up at the 13th Sub-Junior National Roll Ball Championship on its concluding day at Delhi Public School in Guwahati.
Playing creditably, Jharkhand lost 3-4 to Uttar Pradesh in the summit clash. Earlier, the state had defeated Kerala 8-5 in the semi-finals.
However, Jharkhand girls lost to Uttar Pradesh 3-8 in the quarterfinals.
Team mentor Chandeswar Kumar said over the phone from Guwahati that the final was a close fight and the tournament could have gone either way.
“We lost in a close final. Our boys have put up a stellar show. We are proud of these budding players,” he added.
The seven-member boys team comprised Ujjwal Pratap Singh, Deepanshu Singh, Akshat Singh Raj, Arya Vats, Shreyash Shekhar, Pratham Kashyap and Krish Sinha.
Most of the boys hone their skills at the Roller Skating Centre run by Tata Steel sports wing at JRD Tata Steel sports complex.
“Our girls also put up a good show but lost to Uttar Pradesh in the quarters. All the players played well and lost to a stronger side,” Chandeswar said. Lovely Kumari, Koyna Mudha, Ridhima Anand, Mansi Sahu, P. Yashaswi, Naysa Singh, Roshni Sarkar, Vishwa Priya, Jiya Kumari, Pahal Bhogta and Raimani Jamuda are part of the girls’ team.
