7 Puneites in Indian women’s rugby team

Sabade’s selection for the second time and the seven Pune girls in a squad of 12 clearly establishes the fact that the city has become the hub of Indian women’s rugby.

Gayatri Salunkhe,one of Sabade’s team mates from Pune,remembers how delighted she was to be awarded a traditional Tyubiteika hat from the Uzbekistan camp and a Motif scarf from the Laos contingent for being India’s top try scorer in their inaugural rugby sevens tournament held in Bangkok in June. It’s another matter that India finished 13th from a field of 14 teams,narrowly escaping the wooden spoon.

This time,however,she is willing to forgo personal glory for a team victory in the upcoming tournament. The team echoes her sentiment and has been practising rigorously for last five days at Balewadi stadium.

The other five from Pune are Ketaki Khare,Niharika Bal,Vahbiz Bharucha,Vaishnavi Sose and Neha Pardeshi. Kalpana Das,Priyanka Das,Sutapa Das,Tapasi Nandi from Jungle Crows team,Kolkata,and Sindhu Sreenath from Bangalore will make their debut for the Indian team.

According to Sabade,the team has gained some experience from their previous outing and is confident of a favourable result against Guam and Malaysia,who,like India,are relatively new to the sport. The Thai team,however,is no stranger to contact sport – thanks to its national sport being Muay Thai (a form of kick-boxing) – and has a tough and pacy outfit that was ranked second in the previous tournament. They will be the team to beat. “We will need our defense to be on top of their game when we play Thailand as our strategy will be to frustrate the opposition,” she said.

Coach Usuaiah Biumaiwai of Fiji feels that the team’s strength lies in its speed and he will be looking to use the wingers as much as possible.

Forwards Ketaki,Niharika and Avani are striving to increase their body strength and the addition of four national level athletes from the Jungle Crows team will definitely provide the team with some sprint options in the wings. Tapasi Nandi of Kolkata had missed out on a chance to play previously because of passport related problems. “I am delighted to get a chance to represent the Indian team and will do my best,” she said.