Haryana beat Goa 32-22 in the finals of the Fast5 netball and climbed to the second spot in the medals’ table and the latter is at the 12th position at the end of play of the second official day of the 37th National Games being hosted by Goa.
Haryana women beat Punjab 40-15 in the finals held earlier at the Indoor stadium in Campal to script their dominance in the game.
Sanmay Bandekar was the star of this full-moon evening. He scored a three pointer in each quarter in the semifinal against Karnataka and generally crafted Goa’s style in the final.
“It is a great day for all of us because it is for the first time that we are winning a title since the game was adopted by Goa. The boys and the coaches put up a great show and their hard work has paid off,” said a beaming netball secretary Pratish Naik.
“These past few days have been tiring but I am happy that we finished with the silver. Everyone is happy, though we would have been happier if we had won the gold. Something is better than nothing,” said coach Sandeep Shetkar.
“I do not know what they are going to do tonight but we will surely celebrate either tonight or tomorrow,” added the coach.
These past few days have been tiring but I am happy that we finished with the silver. Everyone is happy, though we would have been happier if we had won the gold. Something is better than nothing
Sandeep Shetkar, Coach
Goa men and women had lost to Haryana during the original netball tie of the competition.
Goa beat Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh 40-28 and 33-22 respectively in the group round before defeating Karnataka 42-41 in the semifinal. The women failed to win any of their matches.
Maharashtra retained its hold at the top of the table with its domination in gymnastics with Sanyukta Kale bagging her third goal and Rahil Pakhle pocketing the trampoline title. Maharashtra also won the boys Pencak Silat.
Goa begins its football campaign against Services on October 30 at the Nehru stadium in Fatorda and play Karnataka on November 1. Both matches are at 4 pm. Goa faces Punjab in its last group match at 9 am.
The women start their campaign against Haryana on October 28 at Tilak Maidan in Vasco and play Odisha on October 30 at 4 pm. Goa concludes its Group B fixtures against Chandigarh at 9 am.