Debasish Das’s victory at the National Challengers Chess Championship has thrilled sports lovers in the state. Chess has also taken centre stage through a Grand Masters' event hosted in Bhubaneswar. Let's take a look at the various victories and achievements by sportspersons of Odisha in various spheres in the last week.

Cause a racket

The lesser-known racket sport — racketlon — in which all major racket games such as tennis, badminton, table tennis and squash are played one after the other, could soon have a wider following in Odisha. Manoranjan Mishra of the state will be an official observer for the sport at the World Sport Festival to be held in Vienna, Austria from July 5 to 8 as well as the Team and World Champs in Sofia, Bulgaria from July 12 to 15, both organised by Federation of International Racketlon.

Pack a punch

A 15-member Odisha squad, including 12 boxers, are participating in the seventh Sub-junior National Women Boxing Championship organised in Calcutta. The championship, which started on May 27, will continue till May 31. The players have been selected from the state championships held in Berhampur on February 27 and 28 this year.

Chess-ing the dream

Chess whiz kid Debashish Das made the state proud by clinching the title at the 50th National Challengers Chess Championship, which concluded at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. The International Master (IM) from Odisha topped the chart with a stunning 10 points to easily win the national title yesterday. Meanwhile, Sankalp Baliarsingh from Bhubaneswar and Sovna Sonali Jena from Jajpur emerged champions at the Odisha State under-11 chess championship that concluded in Chandikhol on May 25. Baliarsingh topped the table with 6.5 points in the boys’ category while Anshuman Samal of Cuttack emerged runners-up with six points. Sovna and Sweta Senapati of Angul tied for the top spot with 5.5 points each in the girls’ competition. But Sovna was declared winner using the Buchholtz tie break score 23-19. As many as 84 players, including 27 girls, participated in the three-day event. Also, the fourth Odisha Open International Grand Master Chess Tournament was inaugurated at KIIT on Tuesday. Eight grandmasters from all over the world are participating in the championship, which will conclude on June 5.

Kick up a storm

The prestigious national football championship hosted by the state - the Santosh trophy - concluded with an exciting final last evening at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. Services claimed the title after 51 years by beating Tamil Nadu 3-2 in the finals held at Barabati stadium in Cuttack. Though Services were leading 3-0, two goals by Tamil Nadu during the final minutes took the game to a close finish. All India Football Federation (AIFF) and Football Association of Orissa had organised jointly the event in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Sambalpur and Bargarh.

Time for more cricket

The semi-finals of the Under-19 inter district cricket tournament will start tomorrow. The two four-day matches will be played simultaneously at Bidanasi ground and Ravenshaw field in Cuttack. Cuttack A will be playing against Bhubaneswar B while Balasore will face Cuttack B in the semi-finals. The final will begin from June 4.

 

Kabaddi girls

Odisha girls made the state proud at the national kabaddi tournament organised by Puri Kabaddi Club. The Kishore Club team from Bhubaneswar defeated Jajpur team in the women's finals. However, in the men's final, the Calcutta Police team defeated hosts Puri Kabaddi Club to win the tournament. The event was held on the Reserve Police Line ground in Puri.In Jajpur, with a view to provide coaching to budding kabaddi talents in the district, a non-residential summer coaching camp is being organised on the Jajpur Kabaddi Association ground at Khanditar. The department of state sports and youth affairs has organised the event. Around 40 children, including 20 girls in the age group of 10-14, are being groomed at the non-residential camp.