Pune: Riding high on Rishank Devadiga’s 18 point effort, Maharashtra scored a crushing 34-29 win over Services to lift the title at the 65th Senior National Kabaddi Championship at Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad.
The women’s title went to Himachal Pradesh who defeated Indian Railways 38-25.
For Maharashtra, it was a victory to rejoice as the team had won the Nationals title way back in the year 2006.
Defender Girish Ernak also scored five points for the state team and provided good support to captain Rishank who was stealing points in tandem.
After having the lead of 17-12 at the end of half time, Maharashtra kept the momentum, all thanks to Rishank who kept things tight.
For Services, Monu Goyat tried his best but could not stop Maharashtra from winning the title.
For Maharashtra, senior player Nitin Madane along with Ruturaj Korvi, Tushar Patil came all good throughout the tournament.
Maharashtra came into the final after defeating Karnataka 35-34 in the semi-final whereas Services got the better of Haryana 32-28.
In the semi-final, it was the last minute ‘Super Raid’ from Rishank which helped Maharashtra to advance.
Cameo from Tushar Patil
In the last few minutes, Maharashtra players did not rush for points and only tried to score points on the ‘Third Raid’. Services players then realised the trick of Maharashtra players and attacked with fast raids but it did not help their fortunes.
For Maharashtra, Kolhapur player Tushar Patil who is an employee of Income Tax at Swargate played a nice cameo of stealing two points on the third raid which kept Maharashtra ahead and did not allowe Services to gain the momentum.
Road to title
Final: beats Services 34-29.
Semi-final: beats Karnataka 35-34
Quarterfinal: beats Uttar Pradesh 44-36
