Champ bodybuilders
Odisha emerged champions at the Eastern India Men’s and Women’s Bodybuilding Championship held in Assam on January 7 and 8. The team won four gold, one silver and four bronze medals. S. Krishna Rao, Satya Ranjan Behera, Sujit Jena, and Debasish Dutta bagged gold medals in various categories. Satish Hooda won the silver and Master Miran, Biswanath Ray, Debakanta Sahoo and Subhrajeet Bahinipati won bonze. Babuli Swain was the team coach.
Power punch
Odisha emerged champions in the three-day 6th All India Open Kickboxing Championship that concluded at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on January 8. The state team consisted of 100 kick boxers, including 37 women. The players bagged 116 medals that included 43 gold, 40 silver and 33 bronze. Maharashtra and Nagaland finished second and third respectively.
New gym
Sahid Sporting Club, one of the most prominent clubs of the state, has improved its infrastructure by adding a gymnasium and a physiotherapy centre which were inaugurated on January 8.
Feat for coach
Odia coach Akshya Das has successfully completed AFC licence coaching course, conducted recently by the All India Football Federation, in Mumbai. He is the second coach from the state to have qualified the test. He is currently working as the coach in the Tata Football Academy, one of the premier football academies of the country. He has had the distinction of representing many reputed leagues as a player.
Kho-kho girls
A 12-member women kho-kho team from Odisha has left for Maharashtra to take part in the 27th National Federation Cup Kho-Kho Championship at Usmanabaad.
The event will be organised from Januray 11 to 13 where teams from other states will also take part.
Players selected from the state are Mandakini Majhi, captain, Sasmita Nath Sharma, Madhusmita Ojha, Sasmita Patra, Shabila Khatun, Buji Kadraka, Priyanka Singh, Rashmita Khatei, Mamita Jaani, Reeta Sanyasi, Asha marandi and Manju Xaxa. Sangeeta Bahadur accompanies the team as the coach.
Wedding bells
Indian Hockey player Birendra Lakra tied the knot on January 9 with Rashmita Kerketta of Jharkhand. The marriage ceremony of the 26-year-old Olympian and the alumnus of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India was held at Arnold Church in Jharsuguda.
Women shine
Bhubaneswar-B team won the Senior Women Inter-District Football Championship for P.C. Behera Trophy played at Titlagarh in Balangir district by beating the Kendrapara finalist by 2-0 goals. Damayanti Tiriya, from the winning team, scored the first goal at the fourth minute of the game. Lochona Munda was adjudged as the player of the match, while Damayanti was adjudged the player of the tournament.
Bullseye
Chandamani Munda was the most successful player at the State Level Girls’ Archery Tournament hosted in Cuttack on January 5 and 6. Odisha Archery Association and OCL India Limited hosted the second edition of the tournament. More than 40 archers from 10 districts took part in the meet. Munda won both the junior and sub-junior recurve round. In the Indian round, Golap Naik and Champa Hauhaga were declared winners in the junior and sub-junior rounds.
Goals
Adivasi Club of Kate Purty Nagar won the 10th Kate Purty Inter-Village Football Tournament at the Central Ground in Sukinda chromite mine of Tata Steel in Jajpur. The winning team defeated Nehru Club of Bhalutangara from Dhenkanal by 2-1 goals. Ghanashyam Kerai of the winning team was adjudged the best goalkeeper of the series while Siba Narayan Bahadur was declared the man of the series.
ANWESHA AMBALY
