Ahmedabad junior teams shine in state hockey meet

Ahmedabad: The Ahmedabad junior boys and girls hockey teams emerged champions and semifinalists respectively in the recently-concluded state junior men’s and women’s hockey tournament in Vadodara. In the junior boys category, eight teams — Ahmedabad,

Aravalli

, Vadodara, Dahod, Deesa, Valsad, Surat and Rajkot — battled it out for the ultimate glory. In the quarterfinals, Ahmedabad thrashed

Deesa

4-1 courtesy goals from Yash Rathod, Laxman Pasi, Golu Rajput and Devang Thakor. In the semifinal, a brace from Akshay Thakor helped Ahmedabad ease past Valsad 2-0.Rathod and Pasi scored a goal each in Ahmedabad’s 2-0 triumph over Vadodara in the final. Yash was adjudged the best defender of the tournament. In the junior girls category, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Aravalli, Surat, Rajkot, Deesa and Valsad were vying for the top honours. Goals from Vimla Thapa and Riddhiba Vaghela were the cornerstone of Ahmedabad’s 2-0 win over Valsad. However, they were founding wanting in the semifinal against Aravalli and lost 3-0. Aravalli bagged the girls trophy edging Vadodara 1-0 in the summit calsh.Prachi Chauhan and Kavya Shah have been selected to represent Gujarat in the 12th women’s junior national championship to be held in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, from March 25-April 3.
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