VILLUPURAM: A Tamil Nadu player, who was a part of the Indian women's kabaddi team, which bagged the International Beach Kabaddi Championship in Mauritius, was given a hero's welcome on her arrival at Villupuram Railway Station on Wednesday. S Anthoniyammal, 24, of Sozhaipandiapuram in Villupuram district was the top performer in the final match against England, scoring 23 vital points helping India record a convincing 56-25 victory.A right-corner defense player, who is presently pursuing second-year MA Tamil Literature at Yadava College, Madurai, she attributed her success to her college coaches R Janarthanan and Devandrapandian. Playing conventional kabaddi also helped her to shine in beach kabaddi, she said. "I am not from a coastal town. I am pursuing my studies at Madurai. I must thank my coaches and college management for creating necessary infrastructure including beach-like sand dunes to train rigourously. Of course, playing regular kabaddi did help me a lot," said Anthoniyammal.Second daughter of a milkman Savarimuthu, she was also instrumental in India's splendid performance in the Asian Beach Games at Vietnam last year. India clinched gold in the beach kabaddi by outplaying Thailand in the hard-fought finals with 33-23. She was drafted into the Indian team after her impressive show. She also represented Tamil Nadu in National Beach Kabaddi Championship held in January last year at Vishakapattinam. Tamil Nadu claimed bronze medal in the tournament. "Though played with similar rules and regulations, beach kabaddi is little different from the regular one. There are only six players in each side in beach kabaddi whereas there are 12 players in the regular one," said Anthoniyammal's coach Janarthanan.

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