Football action
The First Division Football League hosted by the Football Association of Odisha is under way at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. Orissa Police (OP) defeated Young Utkal Club (YUC) 2-0 in one of the matches. Yudhistir Tudu opened the account in the sixth minute following which Rabi Mundary found the back of the net in the 63rd minute to seal the fate of the match. Sunrise Club and Morning Club met YVCG and Independent Club respectively in the league round matches on Tuesday. Twenty-six teams are taking part in the domestic football tournament of the state this year.
Backcourt
A two-day junior badminton championship was held in Angul district on July 30 and 31. It was organised by the sports council, NTPC Talcher Kaniha, in association with United Badminton Association from the district. As many as 87 players, including 56 boys and 31 girls from the district, took part in under-13, under-15, under-17 and under-19 categories in both singles and doubles events. On the concluding day, prizes were given away to the winner of the tournament. This is an annual event hosted by the corporation to promote the sport among young players.
Biplab shines with bat
The second game of the KSCA Invitational Cricket Tournament held in Bangalore on Monday ended in a draw without the completion of the first innings. Both the teams have been awarded one point each. After opting to bat first, Odisha were 241 for the loss of eight wickets. The team was initially reduced to 60 for 5 in the face of some incisive pace bowling. Then skipper Biplab Samantray scored a fighting half-century and helped the team put up a decent total. Later, Debabrata Pradhan and Bikash Rout held the innings firm. The team will face zonal opponents Tripura from August 3. The final will be played on August 15 after three group matches and two semi-finals between the four group winners.
Chess cheer
Odia girl Saina Salonika added another feather to her cap by winning a silver medal in the National U-13 Girls' Chess Championship that ended in Ahmedabad on July 31. Saina got 9 points in 11 rounds by winning 8 games, drawing two and losing one. Saina emerged runner-up in the tournament behind Jishitha D of Andhra Pradesh who scored 9.5 points. Saina had earlier won the National U-7 Girls Chess Championship in 2010 and National U-9 School Chess Championship in 2012. She also got a bronze medal in National U-11 Chess Championship in 2014 in Puri. Another girl from Odisha, Biswarupa Chol, got the 66th position by scoring 4 points. Among Odisha boys, Mahitosh Dey (7.5) got the 16th position while Sambit Panda (7.5) stood 20th and Pranab Patra (7), 24th.
Bhubaneswar boy Rakesh Kumar Nayak emerged champion of the 1st Macaulay All-India Open FIDE Open Rating Chess Tournament that concluded at a private engineering college in the city on July 31. He scored 7.5 points in the nine-round tournament and won a cash prize of Rs 21,000. Players from Odisha bagged the top three positions at the tournament. Apart from Rakesh, Rajesh Nayak (7.5) and Mohammad Ashraf (7) won the second and third positions respectively. Hrusikesh Rath and Sanjeeban Nayak, both from Odisha, scored seven points each and finished fourth and fifth respectively. A total of 89 players from six states took part in the event. Banki MLA Pravat Tripathy gave away the prizes in presence of All-India Chess Federation vice-president Sekhar Chandra Sahu.
Gobinda Chandra Mohapatra, treasurer of All-Odisha Chess Association, has been appointed by All-India Chess Federation (AICF) as head of Indian delegates for Commonwealth Chess Championship that will be held at Citrus Hotel, Waskaduwa, Sri Lanka, from July 30 to August 7. Three players from Odisha — Baivab Mishra (Puri), Smaraki Mohanty and Anwesha Mishra (both from Cuttack) — will take part in this championship.
