Event-filled week
Odisha bowlers bowled in a disciplined manner to restrict Tamil Nadu to 255 on the first day of the four-day Under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy match at the Sunshine Ground in Cuttack. In reply, Odisha were 39 without loss at the stumps. The only Tamil Nadu batsmen to score some runs were S. Aravind who scored 68 in 78 balls and skipper S. Lokeshwar who scored 54 in 89 balls.
On Friday, Odisha registered a resounding victory by 90 runs against the formidable Maharashtra team to script their second successive win in the league stage of the 23rd National Cricket Tournament for the Visually-Impaired at Valsad Gujarat. Put to bat first, Odisha scored a mammoth 211 without loss in the stipulated 20 overs. In-form opener Sukhram Majhi (104 not out) hit his second successive century in the tournament. Pankaj Bhue (85 not out) also batted well. In reply, Maharshtra were bowled out for 121 in 18 overs. Tapan Kumar Gaudo emerged the most successful bowler for Odisha with two wickets.
Siba Prasad Tripathy, the honorary joint secretary of the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) has been appointed as the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) match observer for the India versus England third test match to be played from November 26 to 30 atMohali. He will report on November 24 at Mohali for the purpose.
Odisha girls lost to Jharkhand in the Women’s Under-19 Zonal Cricket League 2016-17 that was played at Ravenshaw University ground in Cuttack. Winning the toss, Jharkhand elected to bat first and scored 214 runs in 50 overs. Rashmi Gudia of Jharkhand scored 106. In return, Odisha were all out for a meagre 52 runs in 35.1 overs. Reemalaxmi Ekka was the highest scorer for the home team with 14 runs.
Government College of Physical Education (GCPE) sailed into the final of the Inter-College Cricket Tournament, organised by Utkal University, after defeating Trident College by 12 runs in the semi-finals in Bubaneswar on Sunday. Put to bat, GCPE were bowled out for 121 with Rajesh Raj Sarangi emerging the highest scorer with 46 runs. Himanshu Singh (3 for 13) bowled well for Trident. In reply, Trident were restricted to 109 for the loss of seven wickets.
Make the cut
Deep Grace Ekka, Rashmita Minz and Sunita Lakra from Odisha have been selected to represent India at the Senior Women’s Hockey team for taking part in matches against the Australian hockey team at Mebourne. The tournament began on Monday and will continue till November 28.
Tennis time
Kabir Hans emerged champion in both men’s singles and mixed doubles category of the Major Sandeep Mohapatra Memorial Odisha Open Tennis Championship held in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday. Kabir outplayed Satirtha Patnaik 6-2, 6-1 in the singles final to claim a prize money of Rs 15,000. In the mixed doubles category, Kabir and his partner Rutuparna Chaudhary defeated the pair of Aditya Satapathy and Ameek Kiran Baith 3-1, 7-6 (6-4) to claim the prize money of Rs 7,000.
Smart moves
International Master Padmini Rout (left) played out a hard fought draw with her teammate Eesha Karavade that helped her secure a hat-trick of title wins in the National Women’s Premier Chess Championships that ended in Bhubaneswar on Monday. Padmini had won the titles in 2014 and 2015 also. With this win, Padmin's ratings are set to go up by at least 12 to13 points.
Manish Kumar of DAV Public School, Chandrasekharpur, emerged champion at the All Odisha Open School Chess Tournament-2016, organised by Rotary Club of Shri Jagannathdham, Puri, on the weekend. Salonika Saina of KIIT International School and Ankita Sahoo of Sai International School came second and third respectively.
Badminton tourney
Kamal Das-led Mancheswar Night Riders emerged champions in the inaugural edition of the Bhubaneswar Badminton League (BBL) after defeating Fusion Fighters 3-1 in the finals at the Saheed Nagar Indoor Hall in Bhubaneswar on Friday.
Karatekas shine
Abhisek Patnaik and Payal Baral of Utkal Karate School have been selected to represent the country in the 15th AKF Cadet Junior and Under-21 Championship to be played at Makassar city, South Sulawesi in Indonesia. The tournament will be played from November 21 to 27.Abhisek and Payal will take part in the Under-21 kumite event for boys’ and girls’ categories respectively. Abhisek had bagged a gold medal in the state-level karate championships in the kumite event while Payal had won a silver in the same contest.
Cyclists welcomed
Kishore Club, a premier sports organisation of Bhubaneswar, accorded reception to as many as 60 women cyclists who cycled from Cuttack to Puri via Bhubaneswar on the occasion of Biju Patnaik’s birth anniversary. The women cyclists crossed AG Square at about 9am on November 8 and reached Road No. 35, where players and members of Kishore Club welcomed the cyclists at 9.45am.
