Asia U20 Rugby Championships: Ganesh Majhi to lead 12-member Indian Rugby team

Odisha's Ganesh Majhi has been named as the captain of the 12-member India U20 Rugby team for the Asia U20 Rugby Championships.

The Indian team is all set to participate in the upcoming Asia U20 Rugby Championships, which will take place in Kathmandu from August 19 to 20 this year.

The Indian Rugby Football Union, which is the sole governing body for rugby sport in India, has announced Juandre Naude as the Head coach for the Indian U20 Rugby team. The current India 15's rugby captain, Vikas Khatri, has been named as the assistant coach for the Asia U20 Championships.

The tournament will feature some of the top teams, including Uzbekistan and Malaysia. Also, the UAE is the current champion of the Asia U20 Rugby Championships. In the last edition, the UAE men's rugby team proved too good for other Asian teams. They won all five league matches to finish at the top of the table. The team scored 163 points and conceded only 10 points. The top scorer for the team was Tom Battiston.

The UAE defeated Uzbekistan in the final with a score of 34-0 to clinch the title. Notably, the UAE women team also won the last edition of the Asia U20 Rugby Championships.

India, which is still in the developing stage when it comes to rugby, will certainly face tough competition from top teams like the UAE.

However, the captain, Ganesh Majhi, is confident of a good show in Nepal. Speaking to the press ahead of the championships, the Indian captain said that he is grateful for the opportunity and pointed out how the team has trained exceptionally well ahead of the championships.

“I am extremely honoured and grateful to be given the responsibility of being the captain for the Indian U20 men’s team, which shall represent the country at the Asia Rugby U20 Championships. Our team has trained exceptionally well, we are ready to take on the challenge to compete in Nepal. This is an opportunity for us to continue to improve our game at the international stage, and keep moving up in the rankings", he said.

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India squad for Asia U20 Rugby Championships

India has named a strong 12-member team for the Asia U20 Rugby Championships, which will be led by Ganesh Majhi. Apart from the team, the head coach, assistant coach, physiotherapist and general manager will accompany the team.

India squad

Raj Kumar, Vijay Annabatthini, Tejas Patil, Ganesh Majhi, Arjun Mahato, Harsh Raj, Vidyanand Kumar, Mangal Soren, Monu, Ashok Hasdah, Asis Sabar, and Anuj Gaur.

Head Coach: Juandre Naude

Assistant Coach: Vikas Khatri

Physiotherapist: Abdul Wahidkhan

General Manager for High-Performance: Sourojit Ghosh