Goan teams lose school beach volleyball final

Panaji: Goa’s performance at the 61st National School Beach Volleyball Championship 2015-16 at Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu was bitter-sweet.
Goa fielded six teams in the under-14, under-17 and under-19 boys and girls categories. But while five of the six teams finished on the podium, winning medals, none of them could grab gold despite making it to the final.
The under-19 boys team of V Aravind and Amlesh Shirodkar were favourites to win the title on debut after putting it across Telangana in the semifinals.But in the final, Aravind and Amlesh stuttered, losing to hosts Tamil Nadu in straight sets.
The under-19 duo appeared jittery in the first set which they lost 16-21, and even though they were close in the second set, they eventually lost 19-21.
Even in the under-17 boys category, Vaman Ghadi and Avdut Shirodkar raised hopes of winning the title but eventually lost to Tamil Nadu 19-21, 20-22 in a nail-biting contest.
The only success for Goa on the concluding day came in the under-19 girls category when Ameena Pereira and Mansi Naik combined to get the better of Madhya Pradesh 21-11, 21-13.
The teams were coached by Surya Sawant, Christie Dias and Rama Dhawaskar (Pappu).