Hyderabad City girls shine at World Roller Games

Gachibowli: Two 15-year-old girls Keerthana and Srinidhi from Telangana and hailing from the city represented India in Junior Inline Hockey Under-19 in the prestigious World Roller Games held in Barcelona in June. Both of them received training at Gachibowli Stadium in Hyderabad.

Very few people from Telangana State take up the tough sport as it is played on a hard and smooth surface and players use inline skates and use hockey sticks to shoot a hard, plastic puck into their opponent's goal to score points.

Keerthana and Srinidhi have already achieved the distinction of being strong skaters from the Telangana state. The former scored two and the latter three goals against China in a match which India won.

"I have learnt from my mistakes and I have improved my skills since the last games. It is difficult for a podium finish always but extremely happy to bag 2 goals against China. This success has boosted my confidence to perform better in the future matches," was the candid confession of Srinidhi, who received training from coaches Sathyam, Naveen and Srinu at the Gachibowli Stadium.

Keerthana played two nationals and one international representing India, and Srinidhi appeared in four nationals and one international of Inline Hockey. Both of them went through a grind before being selected for the country. They said that the performances in the selections held at Maharashtra did the trick. "Our consistent performances in the tournaments in 2017 and 2018 helped us."

"The competition in the World Roller Games is very tough as skaters from France, Japan and China dominate the event. This time it was different though we failed. We won in a way that China could not score more than a goal where team India bagged 5 goals against 15 goals. This achievement will surely boost our performance in upcoming matches," Keerthana added, while speaking to The Hans India here on Thursday.