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The 14th Isha Gramotsavam rural sports festival saw over 40,000 players from various villages across Tamil Nadu (and a few from Andhra Pradesh). The finals were held on 9th Dec in Texvalley, Erode. The venue was abuzz with foods, art, music, dance, games from the villages - a celebration of rural life. Amidst this fanfare were the final matches of Throwball (men), Volleyball (women) and Kabaddi (men and women).
A total of 32 teams had reached the finals. 8 for each sport. And they faced off for the winning trophy.
Watch the final matches on video here.
Tamil Nadu West Zone Triumphs in the Gramotsavam Finals
The event was held in Erode - one of the districts in the West Zone of Tamil Nadu and the crowd was delighted to see that all the first place winners were from the neighbouring districts of Salem and Coimbatore also in the West zone. It was a triumph for the West Zone teams of Tamil Nadu.
Here is the list of the final winners,
Volleyball (Men)
Winner: Poolavari from Salem district (West)
Runner: Nallur from Tirunelveli district (South)
Throwball (Women)
Winner: Pullangoundenputhur from Coimbatore district (West)
Runner: Sontiyum from Vishakapatinam dt, Andhra Pradesh (North)
Kabaddi (Men)
Winner: Sangakiri from Salem district (West)
Runner: Trichy (East)
Kabaddi (Women)
Winner: Coimbatore (West)
Runner: Cuddalore (North)
Good to see the other zones making their mark as runners-up.
The First non-Tamil Nadu team to play in a Gramotsavam finals
Sontiyum village women's Throwball team from Andhra Pradesh competed for the winning trophy against Coimbatore's Pullangoundenputhur village team. This was the first time a non-Tamil Nadu team has made it to the finals of a Gramotsavam event.
Despite losing the finals they took their time to celebrate their participation through singing and dancing on the court well after the game.
All in all, it was an exciting sports event but more than that it provided an avenue of growth and joy for a large number of rural people who are otherwise stuck in daily rigors of life.
Here are the thoughts of some of the participants,
"We have played only in our school days. This feels really good. My daughter says I am just waiting to go to the games. You won’t see this anywhere, people of all ages, from 15 to 65 years, we all play together.”
“People are playing without any caste-creed, rich-poor distinction. The employer and the employee play together, the land-owner and the laborer playing together. Truly speaking, these games have brought us together.”
“The main pastime here was playing cards, smoking and drinking. After Isha came, nobody has these habits. From little children to the elderly, people go for work, do yoga, then play games.”
Watch the Gramotsavam finals webcast here:
Our Sponsors:
Isha Gramotsavam 2018 Strenghtened by Ramco Cements. We would like to thank our Prime Sponsors Airport Authority of India. Our Co-Sponsors – Karur Vysya Bank, Yes Bank and Eldia Coconut Oil. Our FM Partners Hello FM and our Venue Partners Tex Valley.
