Odisha women win Senior National Rugby National Rugby 7s Championship7s Championship

Pune: Odisha women saw off Maharashtra in the finals of the 10th Senior National Rugby 7s Championship by a huge margin of 31-7, at Balewadi Stadium, here.

This Championship acts as a platform for players to showcase their talent as they look for a spot in the Indian team.

Odisha were hard to catch up with, even though Maharashtra showed a spirited effort during Saturday's final. The semifinals leading up to the finale saw Odisha beat West Bengal 26-5 and Maharashtra beat Kerala 14-5 in their respective matches.

"We are happy to have won the championship, we played very well against Maharashtra and have worked very hard for the last 2 months at the state camp. I am very happy with the performance of my teammates," said Mama Naik, Odisha's Forward Prop.

Earlier, in the Junior Nationals, Odisha dominated Maharashtra girls by 52-0 in the finals.

Odisha beat their close competitors Bihar 22-17 in the semifinals whilst the other finalist Maharashtra beat West Bengal 29-5.

"Whether it's gold, silver or bronze, all the junior girls and women have played extremely well and displayed some formidable talent. Congratulations to all the players. This is a big year for Indian Rugby -- we have the upcoming Asian Games that we hope to participate in, the Asian Trophy as well as the Olympic Qualifiers in November.

And these Nationals are one of the events from which we will be selecting our national camp invitees for those three international tournaments. Well played to all and see a few of you at the National Camps!" said Rahul Bose, President, Indian Rugby Football Union.

The junior boys and men's event will start from June 14 and will culminate on 18.