Mumbai District’s Atharva Gaonkar has been appointed captain of the Maharashtra team that will participate in the AIFF Hero Junior Boys National Football Championship 2023-24 to be held at Bhubaneswar, Odisha from September 5 to 15, 2023.
Parth Talkokul also from Mumbai District has been named as the vice-captain of the Maharashtra team which has been clubbed with Karnataka, Mizoram and Jharkhand.
The Maharashtra team was picked from over 80 probables, who attended a month’s long selection process at the Cooperage ground. After the 22-member squad was finalized the boys went through a two-week training session under the supervision of head coach Agnelo Fernandes of Thane District and assistant coach Parag Rawade of Pune District before their departure to Bhubaneswar late on Friday night.
Siddarth Sabapathy of Mumbai District has accompanied the team as manager, while Pune District’s Uday Singh is the physiotherapist.
In the opening match on Tuesday, Maharashtra face off against Karnataka and on Thursday clash with Mizoram. They complete the group fixtures with a match against Jharkhand on Saturday.
The 22-member Maharashtra team: Yohan Britto, Tyrell Fernandes, Rutvik Chavan, Atharva Gaonkar (Captain), Manthan Thapa, Parth Talkokul (Vice-Captain), Niall Goghavala, Vishnu Rathod, Tejas Bhadange, Neel Khandeparkar (all Mumbai), Pranav Nimbarte, Sharv Karki (both Nagpur), Durvesh Mahajan, Evaan D’Rozario, Showaryajeet Patil, Aalhad Hate, Pushkar Dhere (all Pune), Prithviraj Patil, Satej Kataware, Ronit Jambhale (all Kolhapur), Mohd. Arif (Akola), Asher Pandit (Thane).
Head coach: Agnelo Fernandes (Thane), Assistant coach: Parag Rawade (Pune), Manager: Siddarth Sabapathy (Mumbai), Physiotherapist: Uday Singh (Pune).
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