Home-grown talent

Odia sportspersons make their presence felt as weightlifters steal the spotlight with a remarkable performance at an international event. Hockey lovers cheer as hockey icons from Odisha — Ignace Tirkey and Birendra Lakra — make it to the Olympics

Odias lift laurels

Odias are shining at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship that is on at Apia in Samoa. Puri girl Minati Sethi, Berhampur boy Arun Santa and Kendrapara-based weightlifter Achyutananda Sahoo clinched gold in the categories of senior women’s 58kg, youth boys' 56kg and junior men’s 62kg respectively. The other two Odia weightlifters in the 45-member Indian squad for the championship also won medals in their respective segments. Tikina Gopal from Berhampur bagged a silver in the senior women’s 53kg category while Subhasmita Mohanty from Cuttack claimed a bronze in the 63kg youth girls’ category.

Bright moves

The Odisha State Under-7 and Under-17 Boys/Girls Chess Championship-2012 concluded at Kalinga Bharati Residential College at Pira Bazar in Cuttack on Monday. Organised jointly by the SR Chess Centre under the aegis of All-Odisha Chess Association, the U-7 girls’ title was claimed by Aditi Mohanty with 5.5 points while Rushabh Anand won the boys’ title with 6 points. In the U-17 category for girls’, Kendrapara girl Smaraki Mohanty emerged winner with 5.5 points while among boys Mohammad Ashraf from Cuttack won the championship with 8.5 points. The 4th Odisha Open International Grand Masters Chess Tournament that was hosted by the city concluded last week. Philippines chess player Oliver Barbosa emerged the champion scoring 8.5 points in the 10-round tournament held at the KIIT International School. On the other hand, well-known blind chess champions from the state Soundarya Kumar Pradhan and elder brother Prachurya Kumar Pradhan made Odisha proud by claiming the champion and runner-up positions respectively at the All-India Fide Rating Chess Tournament for the Blind that was organised at Hyderabad recently. In the five-day, nine-round tournament, Soundarya remained undefeated winning six games while drawing the other three.

Kabaddi tourney

The premier organisation of the state to have promoted kabaddi, the Jajpur Kabaddi Association (JKA), is hosting the 57th national level kabaddi tournament this year. The four-day men’s and women’s day-and-night tournament will kick off at Khanditar in the district from tomorrow. A total of 24 teams, including 17 men’s and seven women’s teams from across the country, are participating in the tournament. Veteran teams, such as Ashok Sangha, Calcutta, SAI Hostel Gujarat, CISF Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Mumbai Police, Uttaranchal, Calcutta Police and Pune Police will participate in the event. Besides, 15 other teams, including seven women’s teams from within the state, will participate in the state-level event also being held simultaneously. About 350 players from the state and outside, along with 68 coaches and members of various kabaddi associations, will attend the national level event.

Ranji hope

The Under-19 inter district cricket tournament concluded on the Ravenshaw University Ground recently. Cuttack A emerged champions by defeating Cuttack B by three wickets in the four-day final match. The Odisha Cricket Association also recently announced names of state cricketers (U-22 and U-19) to attend the Trial Selection Camp for Ranji Trophy scheduled to be held from June 6 at Odisha Cricket Academy, Cuttack. Some of the 26 players include Subhasish Jena, Pallabendu Mishra, Jalil Khan, Rajesh Beuria, Abhinab Mishra, Sidhant Ray and so on.

What a row

Seven Odia rowers are competing at the ongoing 15th Sub-Junior and 16th Challenger Sprints National Rowing Championship in Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu. The Odisha Association for Rowing and Sculling selected Kajal Jena, Manisha Kispotta and Pricila Buxla for the girls’ team and Roshan Lakra, Pritam Beura, Chandrasekhar Sahoo and Manas Ranjan Sahoo for the boys’ team. The Odia squad is accompanied by coach Jose Jacob. The event began on June 10 and will conclude on June 17.