Three players from Odisha have made it to the the 14-member Indian team for the Asia U-18 Girls Rugby Sevens Championship 2021 to be held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on 18 and 19 September, 2021. All three Odisha players _ Tarulata Naik, Mama Nayak, Nirmalya Rout _ belong to Bhubaneswar based Kalinga Institute of Industrial Training (KIIT).

The selection of players was known after KIIT founder Achyuta Samanta congratulated the three Odisha players in his Twitter handle @achyuta_samanta today. But @RugbyIndia (Indian Rugby Football Union), the apex National governing body of the sports in the country is yet to announce the Indian team.

The Indian team was finalised during a month-long National training camp, which was held at KIIT University in Bhubaneswar from 13 August, 2021. A total of 52 girls from 13 states/UTs across India were shortlisted for the National camp.

The preparations for the Asia U18 Girls Championship were overshoen by coaches from South Africa, like Hendrik Botha and Ludwiche Van Deventer, Jannie Brooks (Strength & Conditioning Expert) along with Indian Women Rugby Team captain Vahbiz Bharucha.

Apart from host Uzbekistan and India, three other countries namely Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and the United Arab Emirates would compete in the Asian U-18 Girls Rugby Sevens Championship.

This will be the first official tournament in Asia after one year, 11 months and 29 days. The Asia Rugby Under-18 Girls 7s Rugby Championship was first played in 2016 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. According to Rugby India President, Vikram Ahuja, Indian U-18 Girls team is currently ranked fourth in Asia.
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PHOTO: Odisha and KIIT rugby players (L to R) Nirmalya Rout, Tarulata Naik, Mama Nayak.