Pune: Ex-Army Personnel Dominate Maharashtra Wheelchair Basketball Teams
Pune, 27th March 2023: The Wheelchair Basketball Association Maharashtra (WBAM) has been a registered body since 7th March 2017, and its office is located in Pune. The association is dedicated to promoting the sport of wheelchair basketball in Maharashtra.
The Maharashtra Men’s team was formed in 2014 and has won all six National Championships held from 2014-2019. The team comprises mainly ex-Army personnel from the Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre (PRC) Khadki, Pune.
In 2017, the Maharashtra Women’s team was formed and won the last two National Championships held in Erode, Tamil Nadu (2018) and Mohali, Punjab (2019). However, no National Championships were held after 2019 due to the Covid pandemic.
To give the players much-needed match practice and select the Maharashtra Wheelchair Basketball teams for the next National Championships, matches were held on 25th and 26th March 2023 at the PYC Hindu Gymkhana Basketball court.
There were three Men’s teams and two Women’s teams with players from Mumbai, Pune, Amravati, and the PRC Khadki (ex-Army personnel). In the Men’s section, Maharashtra ‘A,’ ‘B,’ and ‘C’ teams participated, while in the Women’s section, Maharashtra ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams participated.
The matches were held on a round-robin basis, and the results are as follows:
Men’s – Maharashtra ‘A’ Team beat Maharashtra ‘C’ Team – 33-15.
Men’s – Maharashtra ‘B’ Team beat Maharashtra ‘C’ Team – 20-15.
Final Match – Men’s – Maharashtra ‘A’ Team beat Maharashtra ‘B’ Team – 26-17.
Final Match – Women’s – Maharashtra ‘B’ Team beat Maharashtra ‘A’ Team – 17-11.
The Chief Guests for the function were Sunil Ramanand, IPS, Addl DGP, and Abhay Chhajed, Pune City District Congress Committee. Other dignitaries included Colonel RK Mukherjee, Medical Director PRC, Manish Sabade, Chairman and Managing Director Guardian Corporation and Olympic Gold Quest Head of Pune Chapter, Jitendra Pitaliya, Director Vardhaman Meditrade LLP, Saikrishna Hattangadi, Asst. Commissioner Customs, Sarang Lagu, Secretary PYC, and Abhishek Tamhane, Basketball Secretary PYC.
The matches allowed the players to return to the game after a long lay-off due to Covid. New players were seen in action during the tournament, and some of them will be part of the Maharashtra Wheelchair Basketball Teams for the next National Championships.
During the matches, players who represented the Indian Wheelchair Basketball teams were seen in action, including Suresh Karki, Anil Kachhi, MD Faiyaz Alam, NS Thapa, and Sudhanshu Patel in the Men’s section and Geeta Chouhan, Minakshi Jadhav, and Nisha Gupta in the Women’s section.
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