Sportspersons from the state are taking part in various national and international level tournaments. While Nabarangpur boy Arun Santa bagged two gold medals at a weightlifting championship in Yangon, others are trying to replicate his success in their respective fields
Rousing welcome
Nabarangpur boy Arun Santa was given a warm welcome on his return home after winning two gold and one bronze medals at the 14th Asian Youth Weightlifting Championships at Yangon, Myanmar. Santa bagged the medals in the boys’ 56kg category of the event last week. His lifts of 126kg in clean and jerk and a total of and 221kg won him the two gold medals, while the bronze in snatch came with a lift of 95kg. Santa had bagged a gold medal in 56kg category of the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship at Apia in Samoa earlier in June.
Karate champs
Karatekas grabbed various medals at the AIKF National Open Championship held at New Delhi recently. A seven-member squad of the Odisha State Karate-do Association represented the state. Nihar Ranjan Swain won a gold in the 16 to 17 years (76kg) category. Biswajit Sundaray and Dilip Kumar Jena won two silvers medals for the state.
Netball watch
It was a clash between two teams of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), Bhubaneswar — KISS A and KISS B — in the final of All-Odisha Netball Tournament-2012 organised by Netball Development Trust, UK, at KISS last week. KISS B won the final claiming the champion’s trophy in the Cup Category. Two teams each from KIIT International School, Sai International School, ODM Public School and KISS participated in the tournament. KIIT International School B beat Sai International School A to win the champion’s trophy in Plate Category.
Cue sports
Eighty-four cueists from all over the state are taking part in the 19th State Billiards and Snooker Championship, which is on at Cuttack Club in Cuttack. Ashutosh Padhy bagged a double by winning the junior billiard championship beating Sumeet Sahoo 220-104 in the final and also the junior snooker champion title beating Biswa Prakash Sahoo 2-0. In the senior event, Subrat Das emerged champion while Kunal Agarwal was the runner-up. Ahsan Ul Haque and Ashutosh Padhy were third and fourth, respectively.
Ball game
The All-India Railway Volleyball Championship is being held at the Railway Stadium in Mancheswar. Hosted by the East Coast Railway Sports Association, the tournament features 24 teams that include seven women teams. This is the third time in seven years that the East Coast Railway is hosting the tournament. The matches are taking place at the Railway Stadium, which has been revamped with floodlight facilities. The event concludes on November 25.
Go for goal
Odisha’s women footballers selected by the All-India Football Federation are taking part in two different national football championships in New Delhi. At present, they are undergoing training camps in New Delhi for these tournaments.
Tikina Samal, Sinulata Sahoo, Rachita Malik, Kausalya Barik and Subhaprabha Rout are taking part in the U-19 girl’s national coaching camp in Delhi, which started on November 16. The camp is on till November 30.
Sukanti Roul, Jyosna Malik, Arati Sethi have been selected for the national football camp for U-16 girls.
