Touchdown for lesser-known sports

Pune has played host to the ninth edition of the National-Ranking Darts Championship,a training camp of the Elite Football League of India (EFLI) and the National Softball Championship over the Christmas weekend.

While the city might be on the international sporting map after getting a cricket and a football stadium of its own,sports such as softball,darts and American football are choosing Pune to not only host their national level tournaments but also using the city as an entry point to promote sports that have had little or no following in the city. Over the past three weeks,Pune has played host to the ninth edition of the National-Ranking Darts Championship,a training camp of the Elite Football League of India (EFLI) and the National Softball Championship over the Christmas weekend.

While on a national level,these sports might still be taking their first steps towards becoming popular,one of the reasons why these sports are finding prominence in smaller cities like Pune is their unique and novel nature and the fact that Pune offers more conducive facilities for them to grow. Manohar Bangera,COO,EFLI,says,Its not about not getting exposure in the bigger cities but about the quality of facilities to help sustain the sport. The stadium at Balewadi has good facilities to support a training camp that is spread over one or two months. In fact,the EFLI had two training camps in the city,one an orientation camp,and the other an advanced training camp that had former Chicago Bears player and coach Doug Plank training the players.

December 16-18 saw the ninth edition of the ranking Darts Championship being held at the Corinthian Club. Vijaya Tecksingani,convenor of the championship,says,The championship was held in Pune simply because we have a large number of players from this part of the country. In fact even the first edition of the championship was held here in the city. The tournament saw 70 players from across 16 states participate in the same with Ayesha Sayed from the city winning the Ladies Singles leg of the same.

Doug Plank,a former NFL player who came to coach players and coaches in the city,said the experience has been rewarding. Commenting on the league,Bangera said the first championship will be played in November next year,with matches being played at the Balewadi stadium too. At the recently conducted Amit Joshi Memorial All India Softball Tournament,31 matches were played over a period of three days at the SP College Ground from December 23-25. Archana Rane,vice-president of AAYs Softball Academy that conducted the tournament says,Softball has been around for the past 12 years in Pune. It is only that now we are finally getting more visibility. The games are conducted across India and this year we held it in Pune. The fact that Pune has a permanent softball field at the SP College also helps to promote the sport. In fact,some of the best national softball players are based in the city. Team Bhate & Raje won the fourth edition of the tournament with Bhate & Raje outplaying Parag Estate 14-2.

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