Swaraj Lad of Krida Prabodhini, Sakshi Kamble, Tejas Chavan of Thane, Sanskar Musale of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Prithviraj Chavan of Kolhapur and Vihan Kotiyan of Mumbai won gold medals in the cadet group matches of the 51st State Level Cadet and Junior Tournament. In the girls category, Snehal Dhore of Yavatmal and Sakshi Kamble of Krida Prabodhini defeated their opponents.
Yavatmal’s Snehal Dhore outwitted PJA’s Vrinda Shelar with Shio Toshi while Krida Prabodhini’s Sakshi Kamble used Yoko Gake’s well-timed innings effectively to defeat Sambhajinagar’s Shrutkirti Khalate in the final leg. Satara’s Vedanta Pawar ended the tournament with an ippon by Krida Prabodhini’s Swaraj Lad in Ushiro Goshi. Ippon is considered a sign of great skill in Judo, and Prithviraj Chavan of Kolhapur and Vihan Kotiyan of Mumbai won Ippon points for Darshan Gawle’s Krida Prabodhini by attacking Rishikesh Pund of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar with the O-Soto-Gari leg attack technique.
Meanwhile, the tournament was inaugurated in the morning session by lighting the lamp by Dr Vinay Natu, a four-time MLA from Derwan Assembly Constituency and a well-known judo athlete of the former. President of Guhagar Journalist Association Manoj Bavdankar, Senior Journalist Ganesh Dhanawade, Sanket Goythale, Shiv Chhatrapati Award-winning pole vaulter Shantaram Joshi, Sports Director of SVJCT organization Srikant Paradkar and representative of Puna Judo Association Anil Sankpal were present as chief guests at the event.
Speaking on this occasion, Dr Natu said that after coming from a rural area to a city like Pune, Judo played a big role in my personality development. Encouraged by my brother, I turned to Judo and it strengthened my positive outlook on life. Speaking on this occasion, he assured me that I would always be ready for this game and the progress of the players.
Shailesh Tilak, general secretary of the association, while reviewing 50 years of the competitions, said that from the days of playing on kathya mats and orange beds for the accommodation of the players to today, the trustees have been striving to provide comfortable facilities and availability of modern materials for the development of the players’ skills. Today entrepreneurs like Puneet Balan have come forward to promote the sport of Judo. Therefore, the visible result of this is that the athletes of the state are seen earning medals at the international level. Tilak said that we are committed to the facilities of the players just as we have tried to take the 50th Golden Jubilee tournament to the same height.
Adv Dhananjay Bhosle, president of the state association said, ‘Today I have had the good fortune to see our students as chief guests.; Dr. Bhosle learned sports skills during his student days. Bhosale expressed his feeling of honour while felicitating his grandson today. Ratnagiri Judo Association president Nilesh Goythale moderated the program and voted thanks.
Some Important Results From The Cadet Tournament
Cadet Group Boys
Under 50 kg: Gold Sanskar Musale (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar), Silver Atharva Thadke (Kolhapur), Bronze Arbaaz Khan (Mumbai) and Hardik Khodke (Nashik).
55 kg category: Gold Prithviraj Chavan (Kolhapur), Silver Darshan Gawle (Kreeda Prabodhini), Bronze Shambhu Chopde (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar) and Shaurya Bichukle (PDJA).
60 kg category: Gold Tejas Chavan (Thane), Silver Tushar Salunkhe (Sangli), Bronze Aman Shah (Dhule) and Subhan Shah (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar).
66 kg category: Gold Vihaan Kotiyan (Mumbai), silver Rishikesh Pund (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar), bronze Sanket Shinde (Solapur) and Soham Deokar (Kreeda Prabodhini).
73 kg category: Gold Anshraj Jaiswal (Solapur), Silver Rohit Chavan (Nashik), Bronze Aditya Dhikke (Satara) and Suraj Singh (Mumbai).
81 kg category: Gold Swaraj Lad (Kreeda Prabodhini), Silver Vedant Pawar (Satara), Bronze Partha Waghchaware (Ahmednagar) and Priyansh Thakur (Mumbai).
90 kg category: Gold Atharva Khandagale (Dharashiv), Silver Aryan Malhotra (Mumbai), Bronze Adesh Kotkar (Sangli) and Harshvardhan Nage (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar).
Over 90 kg weight category: Gold Muzaffar Subhedar (Kolhapur), Silver Shivkaran Patil (Sangli), Bronze Atharva Chaudhar (Kreeda Prabodhini).
Cadet Group (Girls)
40 kg category: Gold Snehal Dhore (Yavatmal), Silver Vrinda Shelar (PJA), Bronze Mansi Gathe (Wardha) and Tanvi Ghadge (Sangli).
44 kg category: Gold Sakshi Kamble (Kreeda Prabodhini), Silver Shrutkirti Khalate (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar), Bronze Dhanashree Bhoyer (Wardha) and Samiksha Dekhane (Satara).
48 kg category: Gold Bhakti Bhosle (Thane), Silver Veena Gandhavale (Kolhapur), Bronze Anushka Pawar (Kreeda Prabodhini) and Nandini Suryavanshi (Jalgaon).
52 kg category: Gold Vaishnavi Khalane (Nashik), Silver Vaishnavi Mudholkar (Yavatmal), Bronze Purva Sohni (Kolhapur), System Ethape (Satara).
57 kg category: Gold Shravani DK (Yavatmal), Silver Shravani Sitap (PJA), Bronze Shreya More (Thane) and Srishti Omble (Satara).
63 kg category: Gold Samiksha Sadavarte (Kolhapur), Silver Ruchita Shende (Wardha), Bronze Arya Ahire (Thane) and Kokila Dhanane (Kreeda Prabodhini).
70 kg category: Gold Preksha Borkar (Thane), Silver Amrita Chowgule (Kreeda Prabodhini), Bronze Sanika Gandhari (Ratnagiri) and Shweta Gandhawale (Kolhapur).
The weight categories above 70 kg are Gold Saili Vijesh (Thane), Silver Ashtami Jagde (Mumbai), Bronze Anushka Mate (Nagpur), and East Kutte (Solapur).
