Popularity push 

Twenty-four players from Odisha will take part in the 19th Sub-Junior Sepak takraw Championship to be held in Hyderabad from July 27 to 31. The team left for the venue on Tuesday. It includes 13 boys and 11 girls. Recently, the annual meeting of the Odisha State Sepak Takraw Association was held, during which several decisions were taken for increasing the popularity of the sport all over the state. A sepak takraw premier league will be also be held in Bhubaneswar from this year.

Take a dive 

The Kalinga Divers’ Foundation hosted a two-day water sports camp for international tourists recently. Noted scuba diver Sabir Bux hosted the camp at his Ramachandi training institute. Around 40 women tourists, including 16 from Dubai, took part in the event. Divers at the institute along with Puri Lifeguard Sailing Club engaged the tourists in water activities such as windsurfing, snorkelling, kayaking and underwater diving. The event was hosted in association with the Puri district administration to promote water sports among foreign tourists.

Karate tourneys

Players from Odisha ruled the roost at the 7th All India Open Karate Tournament, which concluded on July 24. They bagged 176 medals out of the 223 — 51 gold, 42 silver and 83 bronze — at the tournament hosted by Utkal Karate School. Jharkhand followed Odisha with 26 medals. More than 350 players from five states took part in the three-day event. Utkal Karate School will also host the 8th edition of Yoddha Fighting Championship at the Saheed Nagar indoor hall in Bhubaneswar on August 5 and 6. 

Job boost

Ashok Sahu, the president of the Odisha Basketball Association and joint secretary of the Odisha Olympic Association, was selected team manager for the Under-18 national basketball team. He is in Tehran for the ongoing 24th FIBA Asia Under-18 Championship, which will conclude on July 31. Members of both the basketball and Olympic association have congratulated Sahu on his assignment. 

Double faults

Odia tennis champ Rutuparna Choudhury finished runners-up in the Under-16 Girls’ singles in the Super Series Tennis Tournament held in Guwahati on July 23. She lost to Bhakti Parwani of Gujarat by 3-6, 0-6 in the final. Rutuparna gained 40 ranking points in the match. Earlier, in the Boys' Under-16 doubles final round, Odia lad Kabir Hans partnering with V.M. Sandeep of Tamil Nadu lost to Himanshu Mor of Haryana and Vipul Mehta of Delhi by 2-6, 3-6 on July 21.

In a different development, the KIIT University has offered a free seat to ace tennis player Chinmay Pradhan to pursue an MBA in rural management. A number of noted players from the state such as athletes Dutee Chand, Amiya Kumar Mallick and chess players Saina Salonika and Aparajita Gochhikar have been students of the varsity. Also, the Odisha Tennis Association has sponsored Chinmay with Rs 1.5lakh for his upcoming tours. Last year, he became the first player from the state to get an ATP world ranking. He will take part in a tournament in Egypt from July 28.

Rare feat

In a rare feat, as many as five bodybuilders from Odisha has been selected to take part in the 50th Asian Bodybuilding Championship to be held in Bhutan and the 8th World Bodybuilding Championship to be held in Thailand at the end of this year. S. Krishna Rao (55kg), Balal Khan (65kg), Pankaj Prahihari (70kg), Rasmi Ranjan Sahoo (80kg) and Rajesh Babu Achary (master group) are the players who have secured their places in the international meets.

Grassroots goal

The Football Association of Odisha opened two grassroots football centres in Sundargarh district last week. The first centre was opened at New Odisha High at Subdega block. Around 30 boys will be trained regularly at the centre under coach Hemanta Das. The other was inaugurated at Kundukela and around 30 girls will be trained under Manjushree Patel. The number of grassroots centres in the state has increased to eight with the inclusion of these two centres. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has adjudged Odisha the best state in the country in implementing the grassroots development programme. The AIFF has also selected four players from the state for the forthcoming national preparatory camp for the Under-16 Asian Football Confederation Girls’ Championship 2017. The players selected are Shanti Murmu, Banya Kabiraj, Janaki Murmu and Anjali Barua. The camp started at the Sports Authority of India centre (SAI) on July 24 at Patiala in Punjab.