Four Plus-Two students, and two former students of Government Higher Secondary School in Palayapalayam were part of the Tamil Nadu teams that won gold medals at the Rural Games National Championship 2017, held at Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune, Maharashtra on May 6 and 7.
It was organised by the Rural Games Organisation of India (RGOI).
S. Vignesh, R. Rajkumar, M. Kirubakaran, and S. Hemnath were part of the Under-17 team.
G. Gokul, and A. Manikandan were part of the Under-19 team that won gold medals.
A total of 13 teams from different States participated in the championship. Tamil Nadu teams won gold medals in both the category.
The students said that rigorous training for the last three years helped them win district and State level competitions. The national level event was more competitive.
More youth were taking up the sport and were being trained from school days, they added.
P. Silambarasan, their trainer, said that availability of more physical training equipment would help them compete at all levels. He said that sponsorship for the students would encourage more youth in taking up the sport and winning global contests.
