Delhi, Punjab, Kerala, C’garh in Basketball final
Bhubaneswar: It proved to be 60 seconds too long for Tamil Nadu boys in their semifinal match against Delhi. The two evenly matched teams from opposite groups went head to head for the first time in the 64th Junior National Basketball Championship underway in Cuttack on Saturday. With ten lead changes and scores getting tied seven times, it was anybody’s game for most part. That is, of course, until that one fateful minute in the fourth quarter. After repeatedly drawing within one point of Delhi, the boys from down south committed hara-kiri on both ends of the floor in the penultimate minute of the game. The seasoned Delhi side, featuring five players who have represented India internationally, took full advantage of TN’s mental lapses to score a brisk ten points to win, 92-75. Earlier in the day, Chhattisgarh girls, led by their conspicuous 6 ft 7 inch Centre Poonam Chaturvedi snuffed out any hopes that Tamil Nadu may have harboured of pulling off an unlikely win. Chhattisgarh had already comprehensively beaten Tamil Nadu earlier on in the league stage of this Championship. Today, led by the mighty Poonam, Chhattisgarh turned it up another notch. Poonam regularly scores more than half of her team’s points. In this semifinal match against Tamil Nadu, Poonam came up with her highest score of the tournament with 67 points, bettering her previous mark of 63 against the same opponents. Her teammates did well to selflessly feed her the ball under the basket. Chhattisgarh will look to repeat the same unstoppable strategy in the finals when they face Kerala. In a late evening match, Kerala girls had overcome a stiff challenge by Maharashtra to book their spot in the Championship match. Semifinal results: Boys; Delhi (A.S.Sohal 37, Pardeep 17, Narendra 17, Gaurav 15) bt Tamil Nadu (S.Karthickeyan 23, P.Vijay 17, G.Anto Bethle 14) 92-75 (22-18, 20-22, 18-15, 32-20), Punjab bt Kerala. Girls; Kerala (Poojamol 30, Grima 22, Elizabeth 19) bt Maharashtra (Sruthi 24, Shireen 23, Ishwari 14, Krittika 14) 88-84 (17-20, 17-20, 29-18, 25-26), Chhattishgarh (Poonam Chaturvedi 67, Kavita 16, Sangeeta 16) bt Tamil Nadu (R.Selvamithra 17, K. Rajlaxmi Devi 11, S.Pavithira 10) 110-79 (29-18, 25-18, 36-23, 20-20) .
KISS to cross swords with Xaviers in final
Bhubaneswar: KISS would cross swards with Xavier’s International School in the title clash of the 24th Kalinga Marian-Vevekananda Memorial Inter-School Football Tournament at Unit-6 High School Ground here on September 11. In the semifinal matches on Saturday, KISS edged out DPS Kalinga by 2-0 goals. Prakash Murmu and Anata Murmu scored a goal each 15th and 20th minutes respectively. The semifinal match between Xavier’s International School and Kalinga High School ended in goalless draw. Xavier’s edged out Kalinga by 3-0 goals via through penalty struck. Sudip Das, Durga Routary, Kabi Naik, Bapi Das, Chandrakanta Barik, Somanath Barik and Durga Acharay were conducted the matches as referrers.
MCl extends financial help to Manaswini, Mahesh
Bhubaneswar: Mahanadi Coalfield limited (MCl) CMD AK Sahay felicitated Manaswini Maharana and A Mahesh Rao and handed over cheque amounting Rs 3.7 lakhs each here on Saturday. In the women category, Manaswini Maharana bagged 12 gold medals in the National Wind-Surfing Championship held at Goa in May-2013, similarly in the men event, A Mahesh Rao won six gold medals, two silver medals and two bronze medals and made our State proud. Wishing them all success in future Sahay presented financial assistance to meet the expenditure towards procurement of two techno/mistral board along-with sail and two sets of costumes to each of the sportspersons for practice and participation in various national and international championships. Among others, MCl (technical/operation) AK Tiwari, director personal P C Panigrahi, Dy general manager AK Samantaray and senior officers, staffs of MCl, Founder of Kalinga Diver Foundation Trust coach Sabir Bux and other dignitaries were present on the occasion. SabirBux praised MCl for facilitating and promoting sporting excellence, talents of the State.
Amiya,Srabani, Duttee enter Athletic meet semis
Bhubaneswar: In the inaugural day, Odisha sprinter Dutee Chand and Srabani Nanda entered the 100 meter semifinal round of the 53rd National Open Athletic Championship at Ranchi on Saturday. Promising Dutee entered semifinal by clocking 11.72 seconds and Srabani finished the heat by clocking 11.98 seconds. In the men 100 meter heat, Odisha’s Amiya Mallick entered the semifinal. The semifinal and final would be held on Sunday. list of athletes: Srabani Nanda (100mtr, 200mtr), Parbati Sethi (discus), Amiya Kumar Mallick (100mtr, 200mtr), Rabi Das (longjump) Susanta Ray (coach-cum-manager), Purnima Hembram, Jauna Murmu and Dutee Chand.