KOCHI: The 52nd State Handball Championship, organized by the Kerala Handball Association, concluded with the Malappuram and Ernakulam district teams emerging victorious in the boys’ and girls’ categories, respectively.
Ernakulam and Palakkad claimed the runners-up positions in the boys’ category, while Kozhikode and Thrissur secured second and third places in the girls’ category.
Talking about the victories, Antony Mathai, coach of the Ernakulam teams, told TNIE, “It is very heartening to see our players stepping up their game on the big stage. We had trained hard for this, and our efforts have been deservedly rewarded.”
Antony, who teaches handball at Sacred Heart (SH) College in Thevara, Kochi, had more reasons to rejoice. It is his students who formed the backbone of most teams that finished on the podium at the tournament.
In the Ernakulam squads alone, 9 of the 18 boys and 16 of the 18 girls were SH College students. Moreover, four Sacred Heart players contributed to Malappuram’s triumph, while three were instrumental in Palakkad’s podium finish.
SH College students also swept the individual honours. Ramees P, a third-year Economics student representing the Malappuram team, was named the best player in the boys’ category, while Nirmal Syriac from Ernakulam won the best goalkeeper title.
In the girls’ category, former SH College students Archana M S and Sangeetha G were adjudged the best player and best goalkeeper, respectively. While Sangeetha is a national-level player, the other three represented India at the World University Handball Championship in Spain last year, where Nirmal served as the team’s vice-captain.
“Understanding Antony sir’s techniques and the Ernakulam team’s play style gave us an edge. That’s how we managed to edge past them and the in-form Nirmal in the final. It was a tantalisingly close game and finished 36-34,” said Ramees, who played for Malappuram.
The 52nd State Handball Championship was hosted by Ernakulam at Paliyam GHSS in Chendamangalam.