Nagpur spikers aim to retain State titles

NAGPUR: Volleyball is one sport where Nagpur is the undisputed king as far as Maharashtra is concerned. The city spikers have an impressive record which other districts can only be envy of.
The men's team of Nagpur district has emerged triumphant six times in the last eight years, while their women counterparts also did not lag behind much, capturing seven titles in the last decade in the Senior State Championships.On several occasions in the last few years, the Nagpur teams have bagged twin titles including last year's tournament when they triumphed at Dahiwadi.
With such an outstanding record, the die-hard supporters of the game in the region must be hoping that the district spikers repeat their brilliant performance in the 43rd Maharashtra State Inter-District Volleyball Championship which gets underway at Samarth Vyayam Shala ground, Pratap Nagar, on Sunday.
In a bid to maintain the winning run, the organizers - Nagpur District Volleyball Association - have prepared well and both the men's and women's teams had underwent two-week strenuous coaching camp at Anand Nagar and SVS grounds.
The captain of the men's team, Saurabh Rokde, sounded optimistic about retaining the title after the end of the camp.
"We are confidant of extending our superb run. Although couple of our regular players including counter Anurag Naik are not there this time, we have some very good youngsters in the squad. The camp was good and we are raring to go," Rokde told TOI on Saturday.
The 29-year-old Saurabh has been representing the district team for the last 12 years and was part of the side which triumphed six times in the last eight years.
The tall and lanky spiker, who led Maharashtra thrice in the Senior Nationals, said home team could face tough challenge from Mumbai Suburban, Thane, Pune and Usmanabad. In 2010, Nagpur had defeated Pune in the final to emerge champions.
The women's team will be led by experienced campaigner Anjali Dharme. Apart from Solapur, whom Nagpur had beaten in the last year's final, Pune and Kolhapur can also pose problems for the holders.
Thirty-four district teams will participate in the tourney, said NDVA and MSVA president, Vijay Dangre, while addressing the press conference at the Samarth Vyayam Shala ground here on Saturday.
State minister Rajendra Mulak will inaugurate the five-day tournament at 6.30pm on Sunday. Mayor Archana Dehankar, Vilas Muttemwar, Devendra Phadnavis, Sunil Kedar, Sudhakar Deshmukh, Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Harjinder Singh and Vijay Dangre will be the special guests.
On the basis of performance in the Nagpur tourney, Maharashtra men's and women's teams will be picked for the forthcoming Senior Nationals slated to be held at Raipur from January 4 to 12.
Nagpur district teams
Men: Saurabh Rokde (captain), Nilesh Mate, Sagar Chilkulwar, Pranay Thakre, Nayan Watkar, Parth Tiwari, Saurabh Makde, Sagar Sagdeo, Vishal Pande, Swanand Khedkar, Nitin Belkhede, Hemant Parbat. Stand-byes: Vikas Kamble, Pratik Thakre. Coach: Pravin Chilkulwar; Assistant coach: Ram Andani.
Women: Anjali Dharme (captain), Ritika Naidu, Shweta Gajbhiye, Bhagyashri Rokde, Sapna Meshram, Bhagyashri Dharmik, Disha Devalkar, Vina Khonde, Jaishri Thakre, Neha Chikhale, Sonali Bandre, Snehal Kondewar. Stand-byes: Yogini Thakre, Puja Fale, Mayuri Sengar. Coach: Devendra Bhute; Assistant coach: Savita Pivlatkar.
Groupings
Men
Pool A: Nagpur, Yavatmal, Mumbai Suburban, Amravati, Akola
Pool B: Pune, Thane, Jalna, Gondia, Mumbai City
Pool C: Chandrapur, Parbhani, Washim, Latur
Pool D: Kolhapur, Satara, Jalgaon, Ratnagiri
Pool E: Osmanabad, Sindhu-Durg, Nanded, Wardha
Pool F: Solapur, Dhule, Sangli, Buldhana
Pool G: Nasik, Beed, Aurangabad, Gadchiroli
Pool H: Ahmednagar, Nandurbar, Bhandara, Hingoli, Raigarh
Women
Pool A: Nagpur, Kolhapur, Akola, Nasik
Pool B: Solapur, Pune, Sangli, Satara
Pool C: Wardha, Aurangabad, Nandurbar, Nanded
Pool D: Amravati, Mumbai City, Bhandara, Parbhani
Pool E: Thane, Gondia, Ahmednagar, Dhule
Pool F: Yavatmal, Jalna, Mumbai Suburban, Gadchiroli
Pool G: Latur, Jalgaon, Beed
Pool H: Chandrapur, Ratnagiri, Washim