At the Sri Shiv Chatrapati Stadium in Mhalunge, Balewadi Pune in Maharashtra, the Kenyan men’s team won the sixth World Cup Rollball Championship by defeating India 7-4 in the final. India won the previous World Cup by defeating the same Kenyan team. Kenya, however, exacted revenge by defeating India in this game.
At 4-2, the Kenyan squad enjoyed a two-goal lead at the break. For Kenya, Gryphons scored three goals, Bonface added two, while Moses and Brian each added one more. The Indian scorers were Sachin Saini (two), Aditya Sutar, and Akash Ganeshwade.
The men’s champion and other place holders received the title trophy from Chandrakantada Patil, Guardian Minister of Higher and Technical Education, who was the chief guest at the awards ceremony. Former Pune Mayor Muralidhar Mohol, BJP City President Jagdish Mulik, State BJP General Secretary Dheeraj Ghate, Businessperson Puneet Balan, Chairman of the Indian Rollball Association Suryakant Kakade, President of the Asian Rollball Association S. S. Roy, President of the Indian Rollball Association Manohar Kant, Vice President Manoj Yadav, Secretary Chetan Bhandwalkar, and the Father of Rollball Raju Dabhade were also present for the occasion.
In the third-place match, Senegal defeated Latvia 8–5. India defeated Senegal 10–07 in the semifinal match. India enjoyed a two-goal advantage at the half time by 5-3. Akash Ganeshwade scored three goals for India, and Mihir Sane and Sachin Saini each scored two. HarshalGhuge, Aditya Sutar, and Srikanth Sahu each scored one goal. For Senegal, Mouhamet scored six goals. Kenya won its semifinal match against Latvia 14-1.
The Indian women’s team was placed third. It is significant to note that Khushi Gupta and Ruhi Rajput, two women from J&K, were a part of the Indian team that won the bronze medal. Madhu Sharma, who is also from Jammu, is the coach of the Indian men’s team that won the silver medal.