Nashik: Girls’ Handball Team Clinches Inter-Zonal Title With 17-15 Win Over Pune City

Nashik: The Nashik District team displayed an aggressive style of play to defeat Pune City by two goals (17-15) in the inter-zonal girls' handball tournament held on Oct 26 and 27 at the KTHM College sports grounds. In the match for third place, Pune District secured a one-sided victory over Ahilyanagar.

Tejashri Nikte of the Pune City team was named the Best Player of the tournament and received a cash prize sponsored by Anil Dhumane in memory of the late Sunil Dhumane. Kanchan Bagul of the Nashik District team was honoured by the dignitaries as the Best Goalkeeper of the tournament.

The prize distribution ceremony took place on Oct 27 in the presence of several dignitaries, including Shiv Chhatrapati Award recipient Sunil More, Maratha Vidya Prasarak Samaj (MVP) General Secretary Nitin Thakare, KTHM College Principal Kalpana Ahire, Nashik Division Secretary Chetan Avhad and University Representative Roshni Gujarati.

The Savitribai Phule Pune University team for the upcoming inter-university tournament was selected based on performances in the competition. The selection committee comprised Umesh Paneru (Pune), Vikrant Rajole (Nashik) and Manisha Kondhare (Pune).

Ganesh Konde, Rohan Pingale, Ashish Thapa, Kanchan Jadhav, Mangesh Jagzhap and Manish Boraste served as match officials. Sports Director Hemant Patil oversaw and coordinated the competition and served as the master of ceremonies.

Sagar Kadlag, Ganpat Aher, Poonam Mahajan, Seema Thakare, Daulat Bendkoli, Nikhil Halde and Subhash Ukade made significant efforts to ensure the success of the event.

Principal Ahire expressed gratitude to Savitribai Phule Pune University for providing the opportunity to host the competition after 16 years. She emphasised the importance of maintaining sportsmanship and congratulated the successful students. She advised the teams that did not win not to be discouraged, encouraging them to view failure as the first step towards success and try again.

Sports Essential for Mental Health

In today's fast-paced era, sports hold immense importance. They play a crucial role in maintaining mental health, making it essential for everyone to incorporate at least one sport into their life. MVP General Secretary Nitin Thakare asserted that, alongside physical well-being, safeguarding mental health is a necessity of the times.

Standout Players

For the victorious Nashik District team, Kaveri Mahale, Aishwarya Pingale and Mansi Bhor scored five, three and four goals, respectively. Yogeshwari Jadhav of Pune City put up a strong fight, scoring five goals. Nashik player Kanchan Bagul's performance was particularly impressive.

In the match for third place, Pune District secured a one-sided 28-13 victory over Ahilyanagar. For Pune District, Gayatri Pansare and Vaibhavi Karpe scored four goals each, while Suhani Pawar and Pranali Bodke scored five and four goals, respectively, for Ahilyanagar.