UoM wins South Zone kho-kho tournament

Mysuru: It was a proud moment for the city when the University of Mysore (UoM) men’s kho-kho team lifted the South Zone Inter-University trophy on Saturday. This is the first time the varsity bagged the title since its commencement in 2010-11. The team, coached by ML Gopinath, trained for more than 30 days for the tournament, and their efforts have paid off.
The team had bagged the third place in the tournament last year, and had subsequently qualified for the All India Inter-University Competition, where it lost in the quarter-finals.
In-charge director of the department of physical education, UoM, P Krishnaiah said attributed the triumph to the extended training session. “Usually, the shortlisted and selected players train for ten days ahead of the tournament, but this year, since we were hosting the South Zone event, we asked the players to practice more since they were playing at home. Through dedication and hard work, they have managed to create a record by emerging champions. Hope the team continued to do well in the All India Inter-University Competition that will be held from January 22 to 24,” said Krishnaiah.
Coach of the kho-kho men’s team Gopinath told TOI, “It was an overall team effort. Gojng by the performance of our players in the South Zone event, I am confident that with some fine-tuning, we can do well in the All India Inter-University competition.”
16 teams in the fray at All India event
The four top teams from South, North, East and West zones will vie for the All India Inter-University competition that will be held at the UoM hockey ground. Deputy commissioner D Randeep will be the chief guest at the inauguration of the event.
The victorious 12: UoM men’s kho-kho team
T Praveen Kumar, SC Dileep Kumar, JS Kirana, BR Bharath, HR Manu, Sudarshan, AV Madhu, Prasanna, S Akhilesh, Vishnu, K Nuthan, PN Kiran Kumar. Coach: ML Gopinath; manager: TR Mahendra Kumar.