5 Odia girls in National U-14 Football team
Bhubaneswar : Five junior girls footballer of the State conformed their berth in the National U-14 Girls Football Team for AFC U-14 Girls Regional Football Tournament to be held at Sri lanka from March 20. The players are Sanjukta Tirkey(goal-keeper), Eva Panna (defence), Srijan Tamang (midfielder), Suman Pragyan Mohapatra (forward) and Subhadra Nayak (midfielder). They all got selected from their performance in the month-long camp held at Kerala. Football Association of Odisha secretary Sanjay Behera has congratulated the players for their achievement. The camp started off with 35 girls and it has reduced to 30. A-18 member final squad has been finalized. All the girls are really good and at the camp. We played against a school boys team and it was good exposure for all of us, said a Odia player. India are clubbed with Sri lanka, Bhutan, Iran, Nepal, and Turkmenistan. The Girls play Sri lanka on March 20 at the City Football Complex in Colombo.
Kerala beats Gangpur eves in Jr Hockey
Bhubaneswar : Kerala stormed past into the finals by defeating Hockey Gangpur of Odisha by 2-0 goals in the 4th Hockey India Junior Women National Championship 2014 (Division B) played at the Chamundi Vihar Hockey Ground in Mysore on Wednesday. Kerala gave a shocker to Gangpur Odisha by trouncing to 2-0. In the first half both the teams defended well against each other but in the 26th minute of the game Sindhu. M.R scored the 1st goal for the team as a field goal. Kerala took the 1-0 lead over Gangapur Odisha till the end of the 1st half of the match. In the second half, both the teams played well and did not let each other score any goal till the 67th minute. In the 68th minute Amala Thomas scored a sensational goal to pass on the goal keeper and took the lead further to 2-0 and wins the game to enter the finals. Gangpur would meet Manipur for the third place on Thursday. Results of Semi Finals; Kerala 2: Sindhu M R (26 min); Amala Thomas (68 min) bt Gangpur Odisha .
Gangpur to meet Maharashtra hockey final
Bhubaneswar : Hockey Gangpur-Odisha and Hockey Maharashtra proved their mettle against Namdhari XI and Mumbai hockey Association ltd respectively and made a comfortable landing into the finals of the 4th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship 2014 (Division B) played at Major Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium in lucknow on Wednesday. In a tough competition, both Hockey Gangpur-Odisha and Namdhari XI played strategically to restrict each other from scoring any goals and to restrict themselves from committing any errors. The strategy worked out well in the first half of the match for both the teams and the score remained at 0-0 by the end of the first half of the game. However, Namdhari XI’s committed some mistakes in the second half which gave two penalty corner opportunities to their opponents. William Xalxo in the 42nd minute and Captain Ashish Anmol Minz in the 59th minute made no mistake in successfully converting the penalty corners. The two penalty corners cost Namdhari XI their chance to enter the finals and therefore Hockey Gangpur-Odisha cashed in the opportunity and entered the finals with a 2-0 win. In the second semi-final played between Mumbai Hockey Association ltd and Hockey Maharashtra, witnessed Maharashtra’s Navneet Swarnkar proving to be an essential asset for the team as his only two goals led the team to a victorious 2-1 score and enter the finals. Navneet Swarnkar went out in full swing to make his mark in the game and successfully penetrated the first goal for the team in the very first minute of the game. On the other hand, Mumbai Hockey Association ltd’s leveled the score through Amit Goswami in the 40th minute but Navneet Swarnkar’s field goal in the 46th minute in reply helped Hockey Maharashtra take the lead back and win the match by 2-1. Result semi-Finals: Hockey Gangpur-Odisha 2 William Xalxo (42nd min) and Ashish Anmol Minz (59th min) bt Namdhari XI 0 and Hockey Maharashtra 2 Navneet Swarnkar (1st and 46th min) bt Mumbai Hockey Association ltd 1 Amit Goswami (40th min).
KISS Girls win Touraid U-13 Rugby Tourney
Bhubaneswar : Under-13 Girls Rugby Team of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), representing India, bagged the champion’s trophy in the final match of Touraid U-13 Girls International Rugby Tournament 2014 played in Saracens\\' Allianz Park, london, UK from March 5 to15 . Seven years after the Jungle Crows – as the boys’ rugby team was called - won the Touraid U14 in london and three years after the KISS boys won the Manchester Touraid Festival, the tribal girls of KISS completed a sensational hat trick by winning the 20 team Touraid Girls Festival. KISS team was a class above others conceding only one try through the group stage. They defeated a spirited Uganda Bawala team in sudden death, score leveled at 5-5 after full time. KISS then went on to beat Hockerill (UK) 10-4 in the final on March 11. On its way to the trophy, KISS teams defeated Birchwood High School UK, Danes Hill High School UK, The Hemel Hempstead High School UK, Marchand Comb St. lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda Bawala and finally Hockerill A/E College UK. The tournament had participation of eight international teams. Teams from Brazil, Colombia, Hong Kong, St lucia, Trinidad & Tobago, Swaziland and Uganda took part. KISS was representing India. In addition, 12 teams from UK participated. Congratulating the KISS team for the achievement, Dr. A. Samanta, Founder, KIIT & KISS said it is a matter of great pride not only for the institute, but also for the country, state and tribal community in general. He thanked Touraid for successful conduct of this international tournament. Members of the winning team: Sumitra Nayak (Jajpur) – Captain, Manika Majhi (Kandhamal), Elisabath Pradhan (Kandhamal), Jemanani Naik (Keonjhar), Rajani Sabar (Gajpati), lija Sardar (Mayurbhanj), Chandamani Munda (Keonjhar), Pravasini Nayak (Mayurbhanj), Minati Hansdah (Keonjhar) and Nirupama Mallick (Gajpati). Manisa Tarasia and Roshan Xaxa accompanied the team as Manager and Coach respectively.