Boys take part in a 100-metre cycle race at Ispat Stadium in Rourkela. Picture by Uttam Kumar Pal

Rourkela, Feb. 4: A sports festival was organised here to identify talents in the city and groom them.

The four-day event, organised by the Rourkela Steel Plant, was held last week. It saw nearly 1,000 students from various schools taking part in six events held in Ispat stadium.

An organiser said that this year, 35 schools in and around the city had taken part in the second edition of the event that had started on January 28 and concluded on January 31.

Deputy general manager, sports, Minati Morapatra said that last year 25 schools had taken part and its success saw more schools joining the event this time.

Besides this year, the organisers gave chances to differently-abled students by organising events for them in various categories.

Chief executive officer of the steel plant G.S. Prasad said the plant was committed to provide a platform to budding talents in sports and turn Rourkela into a sporting hub.

“This festival is a welcome step for providing the right platform for students to showcase their talents and fulfil their dreams. The Rourkela Steel Plant would provide coaching and other facilities to extremely talented students,” said Prasad.

He announced that the bright talents, picked from the festival, would be get chance to represent the steel plant in the junior categories in various state and national events.

An official said that around 100 students had been selected in various categories. Prominent coaches would train them. “Besides, we are also going to add more events from the coming years,” he said.

The students showcased their talents in events such as athletics, badminton, basketball, cycling, table tennis and cycling. On January 28, the differently-abled students staged a dance performance.

The event concluded with a dance programme by the students of Delhi Public School. Ispat English Medium School, Sector 20, bagged the overall champions award in the festival.