Bhubaneswar: Odisha retained the Senior Women’s National Rugby Sevens trophy on Thursday.
They beat Bihar 17-5 in the final of the 11th edition of the championship, at Pune’s Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex.
Odisha women thus completed a ‘hat-trick’ of sorts, having earlier bagged gold medals at the 2023 National Sevens in Pune and National Games in Goa.
Led by star international Hupi Majhi, the defending champions started their campaign by trouncing Haryana 55-0 and Jharkhand 66-0 to storm into pre-quarterfinals from Group A.
Odisha then dismissed the challenge of Rajasthan 57-0 and hammered Karnataka 36-0 in the quarterfinals.
In the semis, Odisha overcame hosts Maharashtra 19-5.
Tarulata Naik was Odisha’s top scorer with 62 points, while Hupi earned 45 points.
Odisha asserted their supremacy in the Nationals this year by winning medals in all four categories. The junior girls started the medal-winning spree with a silver on June 20. The Odisha junior boys then grabbed gold, while the senior men’s team won bronze.
“Our women’s team was high on confidence after winning gold medals at the National Championship and the National Games last year. They were confident to beat any team and that made the difference,” said Odisha coach Manas Kumar Jena.
Captain Hupi thanked the state government for its support.
“The support of the State Sports & Youth Services Department played an important role in our victory. Earlier we used to struggle to compete in the National championships. We travelled by train and faced lots of difficulties. But this time the Sports Department provided top class facilities, including training, rehab, diet and air tickets,’’ Hupi said.
THE WINNING TEAM
Nirmalya Rout, Soni Mandangi, Arati Murmu, Dumuni Marandi, Tarulata Naik, Hipi Majhi (Captain), Sandhyarani Tudu, Sunita Hansdah, Kabita Kasturi Padhihari, Malini Soy, Puspanjali Bhoi, Tilottama Sahoo.
Coach: Manas Kumar Jena. Manager: Sanjukta Munda. Physio: Soumasri Mishra.