Win-lose situation
Rugby fever: The All-India Division-II Callaghan Cup 15-A-Side Rugby Tournament, organised by the State Rugby Association, began at Kalinga Stadium on Tuesday. Fourteen teams are battling it out for the title through knockout matches. The teams include Calcutta Police, Young Rugby Club (Calcutta), Delhi Lions, Delhi Bulls, Bangalore Rugby Football Club, Bangalore Bombers, Chennai Irish, Chennai Cubs and teams from Maharashtra, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir and Bhubaneswar. The top two teams of the tournament would qualify for the Division-I All-India South Asian Rugby Tournament that will be held in Calcutta in September. Surendra Jena is captaining the Odisha team. The tournament will conclude on January 28.
Goal shower: Majhia Murmu of host Odisha team scored a hat trick and another goal to clinch an easy victory against Chhattisgarh in the 34th Sub Junior National Football Championship in Cuttack on Sunday. The Odisha team won by 5-0 goals. In the 48th National Junior Football Championship in Cuttack on Sunday, Kerala thrashed Himachal Pradesh by 5-0 goals. In the second match, Haryana beat Pondicherry by 4-0 goals.
Cuesports failure: The performance of Odisha cueists has been disappointing so far at the ongoing National Billiards and Snooker Championships in Pune. Although Ashutosh Padhy reached the semi-finals in his endeavour to defend his sub-junior billiards national title, he lost to champion Dhvaj Haria. In the men’s main draw for billiards, two players from the state, Subrat Das and Ahsan-ul-Haq, put up a dull show in the round-robin matches of their respective groups. The men’s snooker championship still holds hope for the players of Odisha as the qualifiers of this segment are yet to begin. The Odisha camp includes players Jeet Kishore Das, Subrat and Ahsan.
Game, set, match: The Ganjam District Tennis Association is organising an All-India Tennis Championship under the aegis of Odisha Tennis Association for U-16 boys and girls. The tournament, which started on Monday, is being held on Union Club premises. The matches will be played throughout the day at the three clay courts of the host club. Nandipalli Bhupal Raju is the top seed among boys while Assam girl Akanksha Das is the top seed in the girls’ category. The tournament ends on January 26.
Winning moves: An open chess championship has been organised at the Secretariat Recreation Club in the capital to mark the silver jubilee of the Bhubaneswar Chess Association. So far, former state champion Manas Ranjan Parida is leading with 6 points. Meanwhile, the state’s only FIDE Master Soumyaranjan Mishra has emerged the champion at Gold Cup state level chess championship held in Bhadrak.
Power play: The Odisha Powerlifting Association is organising the 24th edition of the State Powerlifting Championship at East Coast Railway’s Upendra Bhanja Institute at Mancheswar in Bhubaneswar. The three-day event features 240 men and 40 women lifters from 16 districts of the state. The performances in the event will be considered for selection of state representatives for all junior and senior categories of national powerlifting championship to be held in the second half of the year.
Pitch report: Bhubaneswar ‘B’ and Cuttack ‘A’ teams won their respective matches in the super league stage of the ongoing U-16 Inter District Men’s Cricket Tournament on at various grounds in Cuttack. The Rourkela vs Bhubaneswar ‘A’ and Cuttack ‘B’ vs Khurda matches ended in a draw.
