Ahmedabad: Vishnu Waghela, 22, won the ‘Best Football Play’ award at the International BRICS Blind Football Tournament held in Moscow from Dec 18 to 20. Waghela, who is associated with the Blind People’s Association (BPA), also captained the team.
“While the India Blind Football team lost to Brazil in the semi-final, Vishnu scored a goal using a penalty shootout. He also showed excellent performance as a defender. He received the honours for his all-round performance as India beat Turkey 1-0, Belarus 3-0, and Russia 2-0 in the tournament,” said Paritosh Dave, sports coordinator at BPA. “Interestingly, India beat Turkey, which eventually emerged as winners.”
BPA officials said that Waghela, along with Vijay Pachani, were the two players in the playing XI from Gujarat.
“Waghela’s story is inspiring as he took to football only in 2020 during the pandemic to pass time and get exercise. But he emerged as an excellent player who is also a part of the Indian national team that visited over 12 countries in the past 3-4 years,” said an official. “Currently appearing for competitive exams, Waghela, a native of Palanpur, also coaches children and teens in the game,” the official added.