It was a disappointing week for Odia cricket lovers, but tennis player Rutuparna Choudhary won another tournament.
The First Division Football League between the final 12 teams is under way at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack.
Free kicks
In the First Division Football League hosted by the Football Association of Odisha is under way at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, with 12 teams taking part in it. There were some lopsided matches. The match between the Rising Student Club and the Radha Gobinda Club did not take place as the latter gave a walkover and the former got the full points. In another match between the Radha Raman Club and the Independent Club, the former won 4-1. Krishanu Das scored two goals at the 24th and 76th minute, while Emanuel Eze scored one at the 29th minute and Anand Lakra scored another at the 78th minute for the winning team. The only goal scorer for the Independent Club was Somanath Nayak. The second division league has also begun in Cuttack.
Losing trail
The Odisha state team as well as the Under-19 suffered humiliating defeats in major tournaments. The Odisha team lost for the third time in a row at the Vijay Hazare Trophy. After beginning their campaign with a victory against Vidarbha, the state team lost to Maharshtra and Delhi successively. On Monday, the Odia men lost to Baroda by 56 runs in their fourth Group-C league match in Delhi. In the Cooch Behar Trophy, the Odisha Under-19 suffered an innings defeat. Vidarbha won by an innings and 89 runs in the Elite Group-A league match at BOSE Ground in
Cuttack.
Skate away
The Roller Skating Association of Odisha is organising a selection trial for the 53rd National Roller Skating Championship to be hosted in Mumbai in January. The selection trials will be conducted on December 24 and 25 at Cambridge School in Cuttack. The open trial is organised for the first time by the association and will be supervised by observers and selectors of the Roller Skating Federation of India. Interesting candidates should contact Nimish Sharma, coach and co-ordinator for the event, said an association member.
Good moves
Odia girl Kiran Manisha Mohanty was leading, along with two others in the 5th All-India FIDE Rating Chess Championship for women, hosted on the Infosys campus in Bhubaneswar. In the 7th and penultimate round on Monday, Mohanty drew with Grandmaster Mary Ann Gomes of Bengal. After 25 moves, both the players agreed for a draw. Mohanty had 5.5 point, along with Mary and Ankitha Goud Palle of Telangana. The final round was under wayon Tuesday when reports last came in.
For the first time, Cuttack will host the All-India Open Rating Chess Tournament from December 21 to 25 at the Sachin Tendulkar Indoor Hall at Barabati Stadium. The five-day event will feature nine rounds and a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh.
Rugby tourney
The Callaghan Cup All-India Division-II Rugby Football Tournament, organised by the Odisha Rugby Football Association concluded at Barabati Stadium on December 13. The Calcutta Police Sergeants’ Institute beat the Mumbai Magician in the final by 20-9 points to emerge champions. Twelve teams, consisting of around 300 players, took part in the five-day tournament. There were two Odisha teams in the event. The Kalinga Institute of Social Science finished seventh, defeating Jammu and Kashmir 19-18.
Smart serve
Odia girl Rutuparna Choudhury is on a winning streak. She recently won the Girls’ Under-16 singles at the Yonex Sunrise Super Series Tennis Tournament, organised by the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association, by beating all-India rank 62 and fourth seeded Richa Chowgle of Maharashtra by 6-3, 6-4 in Pune. She also won the singles title at the Nalco Tennis Tournament hosted in Bhubaneswar beating K. Bhargavi 6-1, 6-2 in the finals. In the men's singles, Anshu Bhuyan defeated Avilash Mishra 6-2, 6-4 to win the title. in the state. It has been built to prepare shooters from the state to represent the country.
