Proud karatekas  

Women karate players from Odisha — Valena Valentina and Payal Baral — representing India have bagged medals at the 3rd South Asian Karate Championships held at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday. Valena bagged the gold metal in Kumite event where the Indian team pipped Sri Lanka by 22-3 and Pakistan by 10-2 points. Payal grabbed the gold medal in the junior (15-17 years) girls kata event. Karatekas from Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India took part in the four-day meet.

Wall climbing 

A state-level wall climbing competition was held at the Utkal Karate School in Bhubaneswar on Saturday and Sunday. Around 130 participants in four categories from different parts of the state took part in the tournament, the first of its kind in Odisha. The event was inaugurated by state sports and youth affairs director Ananta Kishore Jena. Sunil Dakua and Priyadarshini Ghatuari won in the men’s and women’s open speed categories while Niharika Das and Bikash Bansal won in the junior speed categories. The sporting event aimed to provide a platform to many youngsters who are into adventure sporting activities.

Smash & jab

Tata Steel Joda (West) emerged victorious at the Corporate Table Tennis Champion title by beating SAIL Meghathaburu by 3-1 in the final match held at Soyabali Colony in Barbil on Sunday. The semi-final matches were played among SAIL Meghataburu, SAIL Gua Mines, Tata Joda (West) and JSPL, Angul, the previous day. In an attempt to build a cohesive relationship among corporate officials through sports, Jindal Steel & Power Limited's (JSPL), Barbil unit, had organised the tournament that witnessed 16 corporate houses comprising 48 players.

Rugby rules

The state women’s rugby team emerged champions in the All India Women’s Rugby XV’s tournament after beating Delhi 2-0 in the final match played in Calcutta on Friday. Top players Hopi Majhi and Sanjukata Munda scored the two tries for the state, ensuring an easy victory. In the league round matches, Odisha won against Young Rugby Club and Jungle Crow by 4-0 and 5-0 respectively.  Bhagyalaxmi Barik led the team for Odisha. Altogether, six teams competed in the tournament.

Cricket committee

The Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) has formed a three-member committee on Thursday to verify age and all related documents to prevent players forging their age at state-level cricket tournaments. The members - Kishore Mohanty, Sanjay Das and Suryakanta Sanganaria - have been selected for a year. The eligibility of a player in the Under-16, Under-19 and Under-23 boys and girls categories will be decided by the committee.

Magic moves

Odisha players made a clean sweep of the top three positions in the seventh Bhubaneswar All India Fide Rating (Below 1,600) Chess Tournament that concluded on September 18. While five players scored 7.5 points each by the end of the ninth round, 13th seed Debata Sarthak emerged champion and bagged the top prize money of Rs 25,000. The event was organised by Khurda District Chess Association under the aegis of the All Odisha Chess Association. Priyanka Routray and Swastik Sourav Sahoo won the second and third prizes. 

Scaling peaks

Nrusingh Sahoo, 30, and Chinmoy Moharana, 21, both from Bhubaneswar, have successfully climbed Mount Stock Kangri at Leh on Saturday. It took more then eight hours to cover 6,150 metres from the base camp to reach the peak. A team of 15 adventure lovers, including nine boys and six girls, are all set to fulfil their dreams of trekking the Himalayan peaks. The team have set off for the Biju Patnaik Himalayan Expedition, a journey to Mount Rudugaira (19,100ft) in Uttarakhand. The expedition is an initiative launched by the state sports and youth services department last year to give young trekking enthusiasts an opportunity to climb mountains.

Rowers shine

Two Odia women rowers bagged three gold and one bronze medals in the National Indoor Rowing Championship held in Calcutta. Sanjukta Dung Dung won the gold medal in the lightweight singles event by clocking 8 minute and 3 second. She partnered her state mate Manju Xess and pocketed the yellow metal in the lightweight pair event with a timing of 7 minute and 58 second. Xess also came third in the women open singles event clocking 7 minute and 57 second to win a bronze medal.