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Tata Steel sports head Captain Amitabh (second from left) at the meeting in Jamshedpur on Wednesday. (Bhola Prasad)
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Men and women outfits from 16 states will vie for top honours at the Junior National Roll Ball Championship to be held at JRD Tata Sports Complex from September 28 to 30.
The championship is being organised by Jharkhand Roll Ball Association (JRBA) with logistical support from Tata Steel sports department. The event, which is being conducted in Jamshedpur for the first time, will be staged at the newly-built roller skating court set by recently by Tata Steel.
JRBA secretary Chandeswar Kumar said they were holding this event to popularise the sport in Jharkhand. “Tata Steel is already making efforts to popularise this sport by opening a roller skating training centre. By organising the championship, we want to pep up this sport in the state,” he added.
According to him, preparations for the efficient conduct of the meet were complete and teams will start reaching from Wednesday night. The participating outfits will be accommodated at the residential wing of the JRD Tata Sports Complex. “The concrete court has been given a fresh coat of pain. The goal posts are also in place,” a JRBA member said, adding roll ball was an emerging sport in the country.
Roll ball started in Pune in 2003 and gradually spread to other parts of the country. Currently, the sport is played in 22 states across the country. It is also played in 25 countries in the world.
Pune also hosted the roll ball World Cup last year in which Denmark emerged champions, while India finished runners-up.
Roll ball activities started in Jamshedpur in 2009 with Tata Steel sports department conducting a summer camp for school students in 2010.
The sport is slowly but steadily gaining ground in the steel city.
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