An Under-19 Rugby Championship match in progress at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 12: The entertaining series of an internationally popular but relatively lesser-known game in Odisha came to an exciting conclusion.

Future Hope, Calcutta, successfully defended their title and emerged champions in the All-India Under-19 Rugby Tournament. They defeated city rivals Jungle Crows in a one-sided game winning by a margin of 27-5.

Organised at Kalinga Stadium here, 12 teams from across the nation took part in the tournament. Hosted jointly by the Indian Rugby Football Union and the Odisha Rugby Football Association, the tournament was being conducted in Bhubaneswar for the second time since its inception in 2005. About 300 players took part in the 15-player-a-side game.

As some teams were relatively new entrants in the tournament, the league matches turned out to be one-sided. Noted teams such as Jungle Crows, Future Hope, Mumbai Gymkhana, Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences, Delhi Hurricanes won matches by huge margins while playing against minnows from Bihar, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh. At times, the minnows were not even allowed to open their account. Though the knock out matches turned out to be more engaging, none of them happened to be a cliff-hanger.

Last year’s runners-up Mumbai Gymkhana finished third, while local team, KISS, had to settle for the fourth position. Delhi Hurricanes defeated the other local team, Bhubaneswar Rugby Football Club, 10-7 to lift the Plate and secure the fifth position. Young Rugby Club, Calcutta, won the Bowl final against Karnataka by handing them a 3-0 defeat to hold the seventh position.

Though the Odisha teams could not lift the trophy, there are several other reasons to celebrate. Bhubaneswar scrum-half Dharamananda Bhoi bagged the best player award. The performances of 15-odd Odia players, including Bhoi, were selected for the upcoming national camp. A three-member committee that included Nasser Hussain, captain of the national rugby team, Manas Kumar Jena, national-level coach, and Tony Mcluskie, tournament organiser of the union, kept a close watch on the players and selected 50 of them for the camp.

“The tournament went on very smoothly. Our boys performed really well and we hope that they will get selected in the national team,” said association secretary Upendra Kumar Mohanty.