American Football: Hyderabad’s Skykings trump visiting Warhawks

Enterprise and the occasional dash were on show, especially by speedy quarter-back Ronnit Banda and S. Raj Kumar

July 20, 2013 10:58 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 12:29 pm IST - HYDERABAD:

A tight contest for the ball is on in the exhibition match between Warhawks of Bangalore (red jerseys) and Skykings of Hyderabad (blue) at Begumpet Police Stadium on Saturday night. — Photo: V.V. Subrahmanyam

A tight contest for the ball is on in the exhibition match between Warhawks of Bangalore (red jerseys) and Skykings of Hyderabad (blue) at Begumpet Police Stadium on Saturday night. — Photo: V.V. Subrahmanyam

A decent boisterous crowd welcomed American football to the twin cities at the Begumpet Police Hockey Stadium on Saturday night. Skykings (Hyderabad) came back roaring from 13-20 deficit to score a surprising 26-20 win over the Warhawks (Bangalore) in an exhibition match organised under the aegis of Elite Football League of India.

Makeshift floodlights made for a pleasant ambience at the venue. Incidentally, this was the first-ever American Football match in the country where players from both outfits were dressed in typical AFL attires.

For those who follow the sport regularly on television, there was a yawning chasm between the quality of game played here on Saturday and the ones in the US. But the enterprise and the occasional dash on the field, especially by speedy quarter-back Ronnit Banda — who arrived in the city on Friday after a month of intensive training in Canada — was enough to draw cheers from the crowd.

Film stars Sumanth and Manchu Manoj were also around to support the game.

And it was not a game where a winner or loser mattered.

“This is just the beginning and we want to promote the sport big time,” says Venkatesh Movva, owner of Skykings, pleased with the response.

There were also sparks of brilliance from the likes of Ronnit, a student of Arora Engineering College, the live-wire in the home team’s win. S. Raj Kumar was another player who made an impact.

Mr. Movva is also planning to lay artificial grass, more suited for this sport, at Gachibowli for the EFL later this year, if the State government permits.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.