Shailesh Sawant, Trupti Suvarna to lead state teams in Kabaddi meet

Mumbai, May 5 (UNI) Former World cupper Shailesh Sawant and Trupti Suwarna have been selected to lead the Maharashtra men and women respectively in the 27th Federation Cup Kabaddi tournament organised by the Maharashtra State Kabaddi Association from May 6-10 at Shivaji Park here.

The championship, which is to be held in memory of Kabaddi maharshi Shankarrao alias 'Buwa' Salvi, will feature top men's and women's outfits from the country, including Indian Railway, Services, Punjab in Men's section&Railways, Delhi, Hyderabad in the women's section.

The list of twelve players in both sections was released by Ramesh Devadikar, joint secretary of the Maharashtra State body. The mens team has two more internationals in Pankaj Shirsat and Gaurav Shetty, both members of the Indian team that won the gold medal at the Doha Asian Games last year.

Anuradha Dongaonkar, a member of the Indian women's team that won the inaugural Asian women's championship at Hyderabad a year ago, is the lone international in the ladies team.

Arjuna awardees Shantaram Jadhav and Raju Bhavsar have been appointed coaches of the men's team, while the same responsibility has been entrusted to Simran Gaikwad of Thane in the women's sections.

The teams: Men: Shailesh Sawant (Ratnagiri-captain), Pankaj Shirsat (Ahmednagar), Gaurav Shetty (Mumbai City), Ashish Mhatre (Raigad), Jitesh Joshi (Thane), Adinath Gawli (Nandurbar), Nitin Ghule (Pune), Surendra Thorave (Mumbai City), Samir Sawant, Nitin More, Nilesh Shinde (all Mumbai Suburbs), Rohidas Jadhav (Pune).

Women: Trupti Suvarna (Mumbai City), Sheetal Marne (Pune), Anuradha Dongaonkar (Nashik), Rebecca Gaware (Mumbai Suburbs), Swapna Sakhalkar (Thane), Gauri Wadekar (Mumbai City), Dipika Joseph (Pune), Ashwini Mahadik, Rajeshri Pawar (both Mumbai Suburbs), Gauri Kadam (Ratnagiri), Swapnali Mhaskar (Mumbai City), Rashmi Jain (Nashik).

UNI