State Hockey team leaves for National meet
Bhubaneswar: State senior hockey team left from Rourkela on Monday for the 3rd Senior National Hockey (Men) Championship-2013 at Pune in Maharashtra from May 28 to June 10. The players were selected from the coaching camp cum selection trial was organised by Hockey Odisha at State Sports Hostel, Panposh, Rourkela from May 5 to 26. As many as 42 players from different parts of the State had participated in the coaching camp. The final 18 member squad was announced on Sunday by the selection committee of Hockey Odisha.
State Team: Goalkeepers; Saurabh Singh, G T Rao, Defenders: Deepak Kullu, Ranjan lakra, Dillip Toppo, Midfielders; Suresh Toppo, Bipin Kishor Kerketta, Jems Jidan Munda, David Dung Dung, Anand Tirkey, Forwards; Mathias Minz, Deepak Ekka, Aman Miras Tirkey, Ayjub Ekka, Sunil Toppo, Arbin Barla, Sanjit Kujur, Xavier Ekka, Kalu Charan Choudhury (coach), Pravakar Patnaik (manager).
Independent win in FAO Football league
Bhubaneswar: In the tough fight group-B league match, Independent Club defeated Bidanasi Club by 4-3 goals in the FAO 1st Division Football league at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Monday.
Pratap Sethy of the Independent Club draw the first blood in the 24th minute and just after five minutes his-mate Udaya Soren doubled the lead. Nelson netted the third goal in the 34th minute. Bidanasi Club intensified the attack, Justice scored double goals in the 37th and 43rd minutes respectively. After the lemon breaks, Nirod Mohapatra of the Bidanasi scored a goal in the 49th minute and leveled the score, but in the 60th minute Manzoor Ali nailed the winning goal and Independent Club registered a 4-3 goals victory against Bidanasi Club.
PK Mohanty, PK Pal, Sekhawat Khan and BN Mahakul were the referrers conducted the match. Morning Club would meet Sunshine Club in the group-C league match on Tuesday.
Amonatov emerges KIIT Chess fest champion
Bhubaneswar: Second seeded Tajikistan Grand Master (GM) Amonatov forced to shared the points with fourth seeded Georgia GM Gagunashvili Merab in the final and tenth round and scored eight points each and bagged the champion and runners-up awards respectively in the 5th KIIT International Chess Festival, Which concluded at KIIT Campus here on Monday. The champion bagged the trophy along with cash prize of Rs 3 lakhs and the runners-up richer by Rs 2 lakhs. For the first time the tournament was played in three different categories. The players above 2200 rating participated in the elite category, while, players below 2200 rating and 1800 rating took part in the platinum and premium categories respectively. Top ten finishers (elite): GM Amonatov Farrukh (TJK) 8, GM Gagunashvili Merab (GEO) 8, GM Andriasian Zaven (ARM) 7.5, GM Pantsulaia levan (GEO) 7.5, IM Swapnil S Dhopade (IND) 7, GM Vaibhav Suri (IND) 7, GM Mchedlishvili Mikheil (GEO) 7, GM Timoshenko Georgy (UKR) 7, GM Kunte Abhijit (IND) 7, IM Ankit R. Rajpara (IND) 7.