Table tennis coaching camp
Young Generation Table Tennis Association with Odisha State Table Tennis Association conducted a summer coaching camp in table tennis from May 1 at Sachin Tendulkar Indoor Hall in Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. The camp concluded on June 18. National coach Raj S. Subramaniam and a few senior state players shared their knowledge with participants in two sessions. The importance of physical fitness of the players was also discussed.
Badminton stars
Rutuparna Panda from Odisha with partner Mithula U.K. won the U-19 doubles title and emerged champions of the All India Junior Ranking Badminton Championship at Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala on June 18. In the final match, Panda and Mithula edged out Ashwini Bhat K. and Apeksha Nayak by 21-14, 21-18. In the semi-finals, they defeated Diksha Choudhary and Tapaswini Samantroy by 21-9, 21-13.
Chess champion
Rajesh Nayak from Odisha won the Odisha State Fide Rating Senior Chess Championship with 7.5 points by the end of the ninth round. The championship was organised at Saraswati Sishu Bidya Mandir in Bhubaneswar on June 17. Four players battled for the top spot, but Rajesh won defeating Baivab Mishra, Rakesh Kumar Nayak and Nayak Biswajit who finished second, third and fourth respectively. The All Odisha Chess Association hosted the event along with the Khurda District Chess Association.
Felicitation
Odisha Rugby Football Association recently felicitated state U-19 boys' and girls' team at KIIT Stadium, Bhubaneswar. The state girls' rugby team recently won the runners-up trophy at the National U-19 Championship held at JN Stadium in Chennai while the boys' team finished third at the national meet.
Soft tennis
Two Odisha players Dipti Ranjan Behera and Chinmaya Ranjan and coach Bikash Chandra Pattnaik from the state are taking part in the 16th China Cup International Soft Tennis Championship at Tianjin in China from June 18 to 25. Odisha Soft Tennis Association has conveyed their good wishes to the team.
Coach honoured
Gymnastic coach Ashok Mishra and basketball player Arupananda Routray received the Kamal Ganguly Memorial Sports Award for 2017 at Sahid Sporting Ground in Bhubaneswar. The award was given by Sahid Sporting Club to honour the contribution of sportspersons and coaches.
Rugby players
Bhubaneswar-B team won the Senior Women Six players from the state have been selected for a rugby national camp to be held in Mumbai from June 19. The players are Sumitra Nayak, Lija Sardar, Rajani Sabar, Basanti Pangi, Jemamani Naik and Soni Madangi. The national team will be selected from the camp for the World School Games Rugby 7s to be held in Paris from July 8 to 9.
