Ruling the chessboard and getting ready to give a blazing performance in shooting championships, sportspersons of the state, with their feats last week, have raised the hopes of sports lovers. There have been activities in many other fields including tennikoit and kho kho.
On target
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Prakash Sahu won the 47th State Level Shooting Competition, which was conducted at Raja Hrudaya Chandra Deb Shooting Range in Talcher. The Talcher Rifle Club had organised the three-day event. Sahu ranked top in the men’s senior 0.22 bore and group shooting. The other winners were Abhishek Samant in 0.22 bore junior men and Pramila Singh and Pragnyashu Sahu in senior and junior women’s category. Rohit Gangadeb, Praresh Kumar Sarangi, Dibakar Singh, Pradipta Ray claimed titles in other categories. Meanwhile, a five-member squad from Orissa left for Ahmedabad for a national-level shooting competition. Ashish Nayak, Gouri Mohanty and Lipsa Sethi will be participating in the 10m air rifle category while Bhagaban Behera and Smaran Shankar Mishra will take part in the 50m category.
Kick-off for glory
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The 9th Gatikrushna Panda Memorial Bhubaneswar Football League, which began in August, has reached its super league stage. Two teams each from the four groups will clash in this super league that begins from Wednesday. Four out of the eight teams will make it to the semi-finals. Among the top teams that qualified for the stage are Kishore Club, Sangharsh Club and Paramount Sporting. Also, current woman football star of the state, Sasmita Mallick was felicitated at Aali where she hails from, after she led the Indian team to victory at a recent tournament in Bahrain.
Kho kho honour
Orissa Kho Kho Association felicitated referees at Barabati Stadium on Sunday. Orissa Olympic Association secretary Ashirbad Behera and senior sportspersons gave away the awards to the referees — Sarathi Mohapatra, Subharam Nayak, Shriyashri Mishra, Akshay Kumar Seth and others from Puri, Sundargarh, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. Meanwhile, Utkal University kho kho and kabaddi team has left for the inter-university championships to be held in Chhattisgarh and Haryana, respectively.
Tennikoit success
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The state-level junior and sub-junior Tennikoit Championship was inaugurated on Sunday at Cuttack Sunshine Field. Tennikoit, the ring version of throwball wherein teams exchange a ring across the net of the court, has caught the fancy of sports lovers in Cuttack. In the junior girls’ section Niharika Patnaik and Shriyanka Biswal made it to semi-finals while Gangadhar Gadia and Abhishek Sharma reached the semi-finals in the boys’ junior round on the first day.
Willow power
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Orissa Cricket Association has organised the U-16 Inter District Cricket Tournament at different venues in Cuttack. Played at Ravenshaw ground, BOSE field, Bidanasi ground and Sunshine field, 12 teams are playing 18 two-day matches. The participating teams include Jagatsinghpur, Jharsuguda, Khurda, Rayagada, Paradip, Boudh, Malkangiri, Sambalpuri, Nuapada, Cuttack-B, Bargarh and Deogarh. The tournament began on October 9 and will continue till October 18.
Making the right moves
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