The game of rugby may be as alien as international acclaim for the non-descript tribal hamlet of Bangomunda in Balangir district, but the village is celebrating the unbelievable success of teenager Dharamananda Bhoi nevertheless, who went on to clinch sporting glory as captain of the under-13 rugby team from Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) that won the seven-a-side tournament held at Menchester (England) recently, defeating five foreign teams.
However, the laurel may have come as little surprise for the precocious Dharamananda, who villagers say has always been dreaming big and showed a keen interest in sports right from childhood.
"As a child, Dharamananda was always seen playing Chhur (a local sport). He was also a very good football player and always showed leadership skills," said Jamanikanta Pradhan, a Badangomunda villager.
"Dharamananda showed great interest in the game from the beginning. He was the undisputed captain owing to his special and innovative techniques in games and managing the team mates," said KISS sports teacher Rudrakesh Jena. The Class X student is an invincible scrum-half in Rugby, Jena said, describing the boy as a child prodigy in sports.
KIIS team was the only under-13 team to represent India in the Manchester tournament, where it went on to clinch a one-sided win of 15-0. There were 10 players from KIIS in the team, out of which three were kept on stand-by. In the semi-final against South Africa, Dharamananda's skill was outstanding, Jena said. In the final match, Dharamananda and Alekh Murmu, who was placed as winger in the field, did the miracle of defeating Thailand at a score of 25-0.
"Playing scrum-half requires great skill. It is that zone of the field where a player needs maximum stamina and intelligence to hoodwink the opponent. And Dharamananda performed superbly," said Jena.
Dharamananda's father Nityananda owns an acre of land in their village and the family is mostly dependent on the pension of Dharama's grandmother after the demise of his grandfather, who was a school teacher.
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