Football tourney
The first edition of the Veer Birsa Munda Knock-Out Football Tournament organised as part of Biju Patnaik's birth centenary celebrations kicked off at the Birsa Munda Stadium in Rourkela on October 28. The SN Club, Dandiapali, beat United Sports Club, Jalda, in a tiebreaker with a score of 5-4 in the inaugural match. The tournament aims to hone football talents from the grassroots and facilitate their grooming. A total of 27 teams are taking part in the event that is being held under the aegis of the Kalinga Sports Federation. It will conclude with the final on November 15.
Tennis wins
Odisha duo Abhishek Mohapatra and his academy mate D. Aryan Swamy defeated top seed Amaan Wasim and Anurag Kedia of Bengal 6-3, 6-2 in the boys Under-14 doubles final of Championship Series Tennis Tournament, which concluded on October 27, in Calcutta. This was the second title win for the boys within a week as they had grabbed the top titles at Dakshin Kalikata Sansad (DKS) Club in Calcutta on Thursday. This was the ninth overall AITA title for Abhishek and third for Aryan. Both are students of the Farhan Ali Tennis Academy in Bhubaneswar.
Power lifters
Odisha girl Jhili Dalabehera bagged a bronze medal in the 48kg category of the Youth Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship in Malaysia on October 27. She claimed the medal by lifting 61kg in snatch, 82kg in clean and jerk and a total of 143kg. Hailing from Khurda, she had put up a splendid performance to bag three medals — two golds and a silver — at the National Weightlifting Championship in Patna early this year.
Hockey bronze
Odisha has won bronze medal in the first Hockey India five-a-side Senior National Championship (men), defeating Karnataka 10-9 in Pune from October 26 to 30. A five-goal haul by Nilam Sanjeep Xess in the 7th, 13th, 17th, 22nd and 23rd minute facilitated the win. Odisha started their campaign through a goal by Birla Prakash in the fourth minute. He scored two more goals in the ninth and 26th minute, while Teophil Kujur scored a brace in the sixth and 30th minute.
Climb time
A team of four boys and four girls has left for Darjeeling to take part in the east zone sports climbing competition to be held between November 3 and 6. The eight players had been selected from a state- level competition held recently. The participants are Manoj Kumar Dakua, Somnath Mundhari, Chandrashekhar Behera, SuryaPrakash Mohanta in men's category and Sasmita Bhoi, Monika Beg, Bibharani Patra and Reshma Kerketa in the women's category. All these players will take part in speed category of the sports.
Champ rowers
Odia girls Sanjukta Dung Dung and Manjula Xess Xess have bagged silver medals in the Asian Rowing Indoor Championships in Thailand held from October 29 to 30. In the open mixed fours, the team of Yuvraj Singh (Haryana), Tejeswara Reddy (Andhra Pradesh), Sanjukta Dung Dung (Odisha) and Manjula Xess Xess (Odisha) won the silver in light-weight mixed fours. On the concluding day, the duo won another silver medal in the lightweight women's double event. Trained at SAI Jagatpur water sports complex, the girls have been playing for the state for the past five years.
Cricket team
Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) announced a 16-member team for the match against Tripura U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy Group-C league matches from October 31 to November 3. Satyajit Sabat is the captain of the team. Also, a 15-member state team is playing against Chhattisgarh for the U-23 Col C.K. Nayudu Trophy Plate Group B league match at Bhilai from October 31 to November 3. Santanu Mishra has been appointed as captain of the team.
Black & white
Odisha’s Yashita Rout gathered seven points by the end of eleven rounds and finished 16th by registering six wins, two draws and three loses in the Under-8 age group category of the World Chess Solving Championship held in Batumi, Georgia. She started the meet ranked 25th and gained 24 Elo ratings. The eight-year old from Keonjhar had earlier secured the ninth position in the U-8 category of Asian Youth Championship in Mangolia this year and finished runners-up at the 29th National U-7 Chess Championship in Chennai last year.
ANWESHA AMBALY
