Serve & volleys
Ganjam District Tennis Association is hosting the All India Tennis Association (AITA)-Odisha Tennis Association (OTA) Men’s Ranking Tennis Tournament in Berhampur, which began on Monday. Players from 14 states — Delhi, Chandigarh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Odisha —are taking part in the tournament.
Cover drives
Six league matches were played in Group-B at the Kalahandi Cup Senior Inter-District Cricket Tournament on Monday. The results were: Cuttack B won against Angul by an innings and 40 runs and got 7 points, Rourkela beat Bhadrak by 10 wickets and earned 7 points while Bhadrak, Bhubaneswar B beat KIIT by an innings and 52 runs and got 7 points, Mayurbhanj defeated Koraput by 9 wickets and got 6 points, Kendrapara won against Jagatsinghpur by nine wickets and gained 6 points while Keonjhar won their match against Ganjam by an innings and 19 runs to get 7 points.
The 9th All-India KIIT T20 Day & Night Premier League Cricket Tournament (KPL) concluded in Bhubaneswar on Sunday. Delhi University won the tournament by defeating Al-Falah University, Faridabad. Al-Falah won the toss and decided to bat first and scored 116 runs in 19.3 over while Delhi University scored 119 runs with the loss of 7 wickets in 17.3 overs.
Former international cricketer Chetan Sharma distributed the prizes. Delhi University got Rs 2 lakh cash prize while runner-up Al-Falah varsity got Rs 1.5 lakh cash prize along with the runner-up trophy. KIIT University was placed in the third and Utkal University were placed in 4th position. Lalit Yadav of Delhi University was declared the man of the match (for his swashbuckling 34 runs in 34 balls) as well as the best wicketkeeper of the tournament. Overall, 12 universities including an international varsity — Daffodil University from Bangladesh — took part in the tournament. Delhi University created a record of sorts by winning the KPL five times.
Spot-kicks
The 12th All India Biju Patnaik Memorial Football Tournament, 2016, was inaugurated at the Ispat Stadium in Rourkela. In the inaugural match, Guwahati Town Club (Assam) defeated Rourkela United 2-0. The second match was played on Tuesday between Kaa Kolkatta from Calcutta and Yazdani Club-73 of Bhubaneswar.
The final match of the Bachhan Memorial Football Tournament hosted by the Cuttack District Athletic Association and Karadapalli Youth Club, Tigria, was a pulsating contest. Maa Bhuasuni Club from Bidanasi won the match against Sports Hostel by 3-2.
Shooting stars
In the Kumar Surendra Singh Memorial Shooting Championship held in Kerala, Odia shooters won two medals though they represented the teams of their employers. While Nigam Parida, who represented Indian Navy, scored 718.9 points from a maximum 754 in the 10-metre air rifle category for senior men and grabbed a silver, Shriyanka Sadangi representing ONGC, scored 414.2 points out of 437 in the 10-metre air rifle women’s category and also bagged a silver medal. Debasish Rout represented Odisha and scored 710 out of a maximum 754 points and was selected for the final trials.
Drag flicks
The All-India Public-Sector Sports Promotion Board Hockey Championship, 2016, commenced at the Biju Patnaik Hockey Stadium in Rourkela on February 29. It will continue till March 4. Many prominent players, including Olympians, are taking part in the tournament. They are playing for the four teams that are taking part in the championship — Air India, ONGC, BSNL and SAIL. The players include Arjun Halappa, Vikram Pillai, Lazrus Barla, G. Chandi, Prabodh Tirkey to name a few. Hockey icon and ex-India captain Dhanraj Pillay is also in town in his coaching assignment for the Air India team. In the inaugural match, ONGC defeated SAIL 4-1. In the match played on Tuesday, SAIL gathered form and defeated Air India 3-2.
