BALANGIR: A 14-year-old tribal boy from Badangomunda, a tribal hamlet in Balangir district, captained the rugby team of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), Bhubaneshwar, to victory in an Under-13 rugby tournament at Manchester, England. A student of Class X at KISS, Dharamananda Bhoi was identified as a prodigy early by his sports coach Rudrakesh Jena. Dharamananda justified the faith reposed in him as he blossomed into a rugby player par excellence. Subsequently, he was inducted into the school rugby side. “Dharamananda showed great interest in the game from the beginning. He was made the captain for his innovative techniques in the game and managerial capabilities,” said Jena. As a scrum-half of the team, Dharamananda showed great skill during the tournament, especially in the semi-final match against South Africa, leading his team to a victory by 15-0. He replicated the performance in the final against Thailand, which went down by 25-0 to the KISS team. “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. It took some time for the news of Dharamananda’s feat to sink in among the people of Badangomunda. Even his father Nityananda, who owns an acre of land, was surprised by his son’s achievement. He always took great interest in sports, especially football, said Jamanikanta Pradhan, a fellow villager.
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