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PANJIM: Arjuna Awardee Brahmanand Sankhwalkar became Goa’s first sportsperson to bag Padma Shri, the fourth-highest Indian Civilian award.
Brahmanand’s name was featured in a list of 107 awardees who would be conferred with the prestigious award.
“First of all, I should be grateful to my family and the entire Goan fraternity who have played with me and those who supported me throughout. Also, without the almighty Lord, this wouldn’t have happened,” stated Brahmanad, who has made over 50 appearances for the Indian national team.
The list was out on Tuesday evening, where Brahmanad got the news on winning the award from his close aides.
As the media flashed congratulatory messages, Brahmanand himself was surprised on hearing the good news. “Just like any other Goan, I too got the news from my friends from the football industry and media,” stated the former India international skipper while speaking to Herald.
“Having contributed for nearly half a century, I had a feeling that I would get the Padma Shri and that actually happened this year,” added Goa’s first sportsperson to be conferred with the Padma Shri.
Brahmanand started playing at the young age of five and like any other child, he too prefered to be a striker. It was only after a friendly game in his class 3, he turned into a goalkeeper, where he stuck to the position till the end.
Brahmanand started with Clube Sao Miguel de Taleigao, but it was in 1974 he won his first major trophy –the Bandodkar Gold Cup as Panvel captain at the age of 21 before joining Salgaocar.
Sankhwalkar won the Goan league in his maiden season at the Green Brigade. He won it four more times besides many other laurels including the Bandodkar Gold Trophy (1981, 1988), Saith Nagjee Trophy (1988), Federation Cup (1988, 1989) where he kept clean sheets in both finals and the Rovers Cup (1989-90).
He led Goa to back-to-back wins at the Santosh Trophy in 1983 and 1984.
Brahmanand rose to fame when he finished the 1984 tournament without conceding a single goal – 576 minutes, a record that still stands.
He began his international career in 1975 in Kuwait at the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Youth Championship and was named captain at the 1983 Nehru Cup, 1986 Asian Games in Seoul and against Bochum XI, a German team that visited India in 1986.
After enjoying a glorious career in football, Brahmanand completed his AFC licence courses and started coaching the Indian National team and the U-19 Indian team. He also led the Sesa Football Academy and now heads the Goa Football Development Council as the chairman.
The Government of Goa conferred Sankhwalkar with the Bakshi Bahaddar Jivbadada Kerkar Award in 1977 and in 1996, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) chose him as the player of the decade (1985-1995) before he was bestowed with the Arjuna Award in 1997.
