Odia sportspersons are chosen for a number of national and international events to be held later this month, lifting spirits of sports followers in the state while an ongoing senior snooker championship grabs the attention of sports enthusiasts
On cue
The Senior Snooker Championship is on as part of the Cue Club Snooker Championship being held at Cue Club, Patia, in Bhubaneswar. Earlier, in the sub-junior snooker championship, Chirag Arora emerged champion beating Ashutosh Padhy 3-1.
However, Padhy bounced back to claim the junior snooker title defeating Rahul Nagi 4-1. In the senior category, more than 50 participants are competing for the title. The top 16 players in the tournament will get a direct entry to a national event to be held in Bhubaneswar in October-November.
Chess champs
Puri girl Aparajita Gochhikar grabbed the Odisha State Women Chess Championship title on Sunday at City High School in Berhampur. Aparajita, who was the top seed in the championship, scored 4.5 points in the five-round championship. She had won the title in 2008 and 2010. Kendrapara girl Smaraki Mohanty, the defending champion of the event, stood second even though she too scored 4.5 points. Priyanka Sahoo (Puri) and Gitashree Biswal (Cuttack) stood third and fourth respectively. Twenty-two female chess players hailing from six districts of the state took part in the championship.
The event was conducted by Ganjam District Chess Association under the aegis of the All-Odisha Chess Association.
The top four finishers will represent Odisha in the 39th National Challengers Chess Championship to be held in New Delhi from August 17 to 26.
On their marks
Six athletes from the state have been selected to take part in the 9th National Youth (U-18) Athletics Championship to be held in Bangalore from July 13 to 15. The six participants include two girls — Dutee Chand from Jajpur and Rajeswari Bhoi from Sundergarh. Among the selected athletes in the boys’ categories are Chinmay Ranjan Jena, Asman Sahu, Rajat Kumar Mohanty and Champa Tirkey. Coach Deepak Dhanoa is accompanying the team that recently left for the event.
Martial moves
The 27th State Taekwondo Championship, 2012, was held recently at Bhanja Bhavan, Rourkela. Over 50 martial artists took part in the championship that featured competition in segments such as solo and team kata and one-on-one fights for junior and senior categories of girls, boys, men and women. The event concluded on Sunday.
Bend it like that
The All-India Football Federation has selected eight women football players from Odisha for the forthcoming coaching camp to prepare for the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) women’s football tournament. The camp will begin from July 16 in Calcutta.
The list of campers includes Sita Sharma (Rourkela), Rashmita Patra (Kendrapara), Alochona Senapati (Odisha Police) and East Coast Railway girls Bijaya Laxmi Sahoo, Swarnamyee Samal, Supriya Routray, Manisha Panna and Lochona Munda, said Sanjay Behera, secretary, Football Association of Odisha.
Money talks
The Union ministry of sports, under its special scheme for the uplift of rural sports, the Panchayat Yuva Krida Aur Khel Abhiyan, has sanctioned close to Rs 4 crore for Odisha’s rural areas. The funds will be used to hold sports events and build infrastructure, said officials of state sports department.
