Free kicks
The Football Association of Odisha (FAO) celebrated the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Football Day at Satyabrata Stadium, Cuttack, and also at Sundargarh in association with Sundargarh District Athletic Association. Around 40 women football players between the age group of 6 and 12 years took part in the programme. A football fiesta was also organised. Mamata Panda and Sultana Parween conducted the event, while Sangeeta Sharma (joint secretary of FAO) and Durga Prasad Swain (development officer of Grassroots Football) were present during the programme. In Sundargarh, around 83 kids took part in the AFC Women’s Football fest where coach Sasmita Dutta was felicitated.
The Inter-district Club Football Championship qualifying round matches commenced in Sundargarh on March 11. The Sundargarh District Athletic Association is hosting the event. The top four teams of the championship will be selected for the Kalinga Cup. Gandhi Club (Sundargarh) won the match against Maa Mangala Club (Jajpur) 1-0 with the sole goal being scored by Francis Lakra at the 70th minute on the opening day. At Kundukela Jubilee Ground, Birsingh Club from Jharsuguda played against Popular Club from Dhenkanal, where the latter lost the match in a tie-breaker (4-3). The match ended in 0-0 at regulation time. Some of the winning teams include Gandhi Club, Tarini Club, Bir Singh Club, Football Association of Phulbani and Home Guards, Angul.
Cover drives
In the Kalahandi Cup Senior Inter-district Cricket Tournament, Dhenkanal won against Sonepur and Rayagada won against Deogarh. The matches between Boudh and Nayagarh, Phulbani and Gajapati, Malkangiri and Nuapada and Paradeep and Kalahandi ended in draw in Group C. Only one of the teams will make it to the last eight. Already seven teams from Group A and B have reached the super eight stage. These teams are Cuttack A, Bhubaneswar A, Jajpur, East Coast Railway, Cuttack B, Bhubaneswar B and Rourkela.
Tennis courts
Two synthetic turf courts have been inaugurated at the Barabati Stadium by the Cuttack District Tennis Association (CDTA). The turfs, sponsored by Milk Mantra, was laid with internationally acclaimed rebound ace technology of Australia and are termed as Moo Courts. These synthetic surfaces are similar to turfs on which the Australian Grand Slam is played. One of the primary advantage of the synthetic turfs is the fact that they are softer, involve lower maintenance cost, said an official of CDTA. Many tennis lovers, including veteran players, coaches and budding tennis enthusiasts, were also present on the CDTA campus. An exhibition match was also played after the inaugural ceremony.
Proud gymnast
In the 55th Senior Artistic Gymnastics National Championships held in Gurgaon, Haryana, Odia boy Rakesh Patra emerged champion. He was representing Services and bagged the gold in the men’s all-round performance. The 24-year-old Rakesh hails from Puri and has represented India in two Asian Games, two Commonwealth Games and the Tokyo World Championships in 2011.
Penalty corners
The Indian Audit and Accounts Department (IA & AD) East Zone Hockey Tournament and the Inter-zonal Hockey Tournament are being hosted at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. In the East Zone tournament finals, Bengal defeated Jharkhand. The inter-zonal tournament will begin on Wednesday where four league matches will be played everyday. The final will be held on Sunday.
