Ashraf, Smaraki win State U-19 Chess titles
Bhubaneswar: Md Ashraf of Cuttack and Smaraki Mohanty of Kendrapada justified their top billings by winning open and girls categories respectively in the Odisha State Junior (U-19) Chess Championship , which concluded at Vikash School in Sambalpur on Sunday. Ashraf beat Baivab Mishra in the seventh and final round scored 6.5 points topped the table in the open category. Pratik Ranjan Dehury (Sundargarh), Srinibas Mishra (Angul), and Asirbad Swain (Nayagarh) finished second, third and fourth respectively.
In the girls category, Smaraki defeated Pratyusha Panda in the sixth and final round to finish with full six points. The nex three position was occupied by Krushna Mishra (KIIT), Sweta Senapathy (Angul) and Gitashree Biswal (Cuttack) respectively. The champions of both the categories received cash prize of Rs 1,500 each. The top four finishers in each category qualified to represent the State in the Junior National Championship to be held at lucknow from July 10 to 18.
As many as 61 boys and 21 girls were participated in the three-day-long championship, which was hosted by Koshal Chess Academy in association with Sambalpur District Chess Association.
Rising, Kishor match draw in FAO league
Bhubaneswar: The group-A league match between Rising Student Club and Kishor Club ended in draw in the FAO 1st Division Football league at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Monday.
Both the team fought tooth and nail to get the score throughout the match but equally powerful defence line of both the team stood like a rock solid and the match ended in goalless draw in the stipulated time.
The officials who conducted the match were Bhanu Bauri, Nabin Nayak, Subrat Purohit and B N Mohakul as the referees. In the group-F league match on Tuesday, Azad Hind Club would meet defending champion Odisha Police.