Chinmay enter AITA Men’s singles semis
Bhubaneswar: Top seed Chinmay Pradhan of Odisha entered the semifinal of the singles event of the AITA Men’s Ranking Tennis tournament (50 K) defeating Bharat Bharadwaj (Haryana) at the SOA University Sports Complex here on Thursday. In the quarterfinal tie, Pradhan was leading 2-6, 6-3 and 6-5 against the sixth-seeded Bharadwaj when the latter conceded the match.
Rain continued to interfere with the proceedings but the quarterfinal matches could be completed during the day. The other players to make the last four were S.D.Prajwal Dev (Karnataka), Neeraj Choudhary (MP) and Abhinansu Borthakur (Assam) who won their respective quarterfinal matches. While Choudhary ousted seventh-seeded Rashein Samuel (Karnataka) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, Borthakur was leading 6-4 and 2-0 against Sandeep Tirdala (AP) when the latter conceded the tie. In the other quarterfinal, Prajwal Dev beat state-mate Vishnu Jinan 7-5, 6-1. Now Pradhan, ranked 46, was the only seeded player left in the hunt for the title. RESUlTS (Men’s singles quarter-final): Chinmay Pradhan (Odi) bt Bharat Bharadwaj (Har) 2-6, 6-3, 6-5 (conceded), SD Prajwal Dev (Kar) bt Vishnu Jinan (Kar) 7-5, 6-1, Neeraj Choudhary (MP) bt Rashein Samuel (Kar) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, Abhinansu Borthakur (As) bt Sandeep Tirdala (AP) 6-4, 2-0 (conceded)
RESUlTS (Men’s doubles quarter-final): V Bendalam (AP) and Sajid ur Rehman (AP) bt Abhilash Mishra (Odi) and Chinmay Pradhan (Odi) 9-1, SD Prajwal Dev (Kar) and Rohit Sarwate (AP) bt Biplab Das (WB) and Siddharth Verma 9-4, Rishab Rama (AP) and Akhil Reddy (AP) bt Abhinansu Borthakur (As) and Neeraj Choudhary (MP) 9-4, Manav Chakma (As) and Vikram BS Naidu (Kar) bt Prateek P. Baxi (Chg) and R. Subramanya (Kar) 9-7.
Balasore to meet Mayurbhanj in Football
Bhubaneswar: Birla Tyers of Balasore would meet local favorite Independent Sporting Club of Mayurbhanj in the Inter District Club Championship-2013(Kalinga Cup Qualifying Round) at Baripada, Mayurbhanj on Saturday. In the semifinal match on Thursday, Independent Sporting Club (Mayurbhanj) defeated Friends and Friends Club of Bhubaneswar by 2-0 goals. Mohan Murmu of the winning team draw the first blood in the three minutes. After the change of sides, Gouranga Hansdah nailed the final goal in the 83rd minute. The officials who conducted the match were Prasanta Kumar Pal, Bhanu Bauri, Nabin Naik, Sujit Patra and Rabindra Kumar Mohapatra (match commissioner) as referees.
Champion Cuttack team get rousing welcome
Bhubaneswar: The Senior Women Inter-District Football Championship for PC Behera Trophy champion Cuttack team got a rousing welcome on arrival in Cuttack on Thursday. In the final , star striker Sasmita Ekka of Cuttack netted double goals and powered the team to beat Bhubaneswar-B team by 3-0 goals and emerged champion at Titilagarh on Wednesday. Sakina Nisa of the champion team draw the first blood in the 15 minutes and her-mate Sasmita double the led in the 18th minute. After the change of sides, once again Sasmta scored goal in the 61st minute. The champion team bagged the trophy along with cash prize of Rs 25,000 and the runners-up team richer by Rs 15,000.
5 Odisha shooters in East Zone meet
Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s five shooters are participating in the East Zone Shooting Championship at Asansol in West Bengal from October 2 to 6. Sashibhusan Chaine, Alok Saha and Anil Kumar Parida would participate in the air pistol event. Prasant Kumar Mahapatra and Paresh Kumar Sarangi would join in .22 rifle event.
loyla wins Inter-School Cricket Tournament
Bhubaneswar: loyla School defeated Prabhujee English Medium School by better run rate in the 12th Bhubaneswar Inter School Cricket Tournament at Unit-2 High School Ground here on Thusdat, being organised by Veterans Cricket Association of Odisha in association with Bhubaneswar Athletic Association. Batting first, loyla scored 193 runs for the loss of four wickets in 25 overs. Pratyush Nayak scored highest 45 runs. In reply, Ragunath Malla scored 44 runs and Prabhujee total reach 90 runs for the loss of five wickets in 17 overs. Brief score: loyla School 193/4 in 25 overs (Pratyush Nayak 45, Chiranjit Das 39 n.o; Krishna Avishek 36 n.o;) bt Prabhujee English Medium School 90/5 (Raghunath Malla 44) by better run rate.