5 students of Malda school selected for Bengal hockey team

Malda: In a first in the district, 5 students from Malda managed to bag seats in the Bengal hockey team in 3 different categories.

Moreover, 2 among these 5 students of the same school are girls. Haridas Mahato, sports teacher at Kushida High School took the initiative to spread the game among his students.

Neha Thokdar, Arnab Dutta and Anant Deb Saha have got the opportunity in the under-14 boys and girls school-level teams representing Bengal.

Mahima Rahaman in the under-17 category and Salima Khatun in the under-19 category have also sealed their spots. These students have gone to Jalandhar in Punjab, Kodagu in Karnataka and Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh with the U 19, U 17 and U 14 teams respectively to compete in the 67th National School Games Hockey Championship.

Mahato who has also been selected as the coach of the U 19 team for both girls and boys said: “These students are from financially weak families. They worked very hard for this. I am pretty much sure of their success in bigger levels.”

The alumni of the school also came forward. The former national level hockey player Imran Azad was specially brought in for a three-day training camp on the initiative of the school’s alumni association. The school now regularly trains 70 children in hockey.

Speaking about her selection, Salima said: “The teachers have always encouraged me. I have got opportunities. I will try to make a mark on the field.”

Mohammad Hasib, the headmaster of the school, said: “We are very happy that 5 students got the opportunity. Our school is the only one to train students in hockey in the district.”