ECoR enters Tangi Cup Football semis
Bhubaneswar : East Coast Railway of Khurda Road barged into the semifinal by defeating Promising Football Coaching Center of Kerala by 1-0 goal in the All India Tangi Cup Football Tournament at Tangi on Monday. The all important goal scored by Maheswar Das in the second minute of the play. With the winning goal Maheswar bagged the Dr Karunakar Srichandan Smaraki best player award. In Tuesday match, Sports Hostel of Cuttack would meet Kishor Club of Bhubaneswar.
Rameswar, Paramount win in Raja Rani T20 Cricket
Bhubaneswar : Rameswar Sporting and Paramount Sporting of Bhubaneswar edged out Jubuline of Cuttack and Mukteswar Cricket Club of Bhubaneswar by two wickets and five runs respectively in the Sanjukta Kanungo Memorial Second Raja Rani T20 Cricket Tournament at BJB College Ground here on Monday. The brilliant 101 runs of Santosh Rout of Jubuline was gone to vain while team suffered the defeat. Batting first, Jubuline scored 192 runs in 20 overs by losing seven wickets. In reply, Tanmay Mohanty of Rameswar scored 70 runs and team reached the winning target by losing eight wickets. In another match of the day, the all-round performance of Kartik Biswal, who scored 58 runs and scalped two wickets and powered the Paramount team to beat MCC. Sahid Sporting and Pragati Sporting both Bhubaneswar team would meet Rising Student and Biswabarati both Cuttack team respectively on Tuesday.
Kushal, Adrija emerge champion in AITA Tennis
Bhubaneswar : Andhra Pradesh boy Kushal Yadla and West Bengal girl Adrija Biswas emerged singles champions in the AITA-OTPPA Championship Series U-14 Tennis Tournament, which concluded here at Kalinga Stadium on Monday. Kushal also bagged the boys’ double crown to clinch a creditable double in the three-day tournament. Top seed Kushal proved too good for third seed and AP statemate K Ashish Anand in the boys’ singles final, which he won 6-3, 6-1. Earlier in the semifinals, Kushal blanked local favourite Mahesh Mohapatra 6-0, 6-0, while Anand upset second seed and AP statemate CH Sree Harshit 6-2, 6-3. Kushal completed the double as he and his partner Harshit came from behind to win the boys’ doubles title, edging out Odisha duo of Mahesh Mohapatra and Kabir Hans 3-5, 5-3, 8-6 in the hard-fought final. Second Adrija pocketed the girls’ singles title with a hard-earned 7-6 (4), 7-6 (1) win over top seed Bhavya Ramineni (AP) in the summit clash. Earlier in the semifinals, Bhavya faced stiff fight against third seed Alisha Samal (Odisha) before winning 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, while Adrija (WB) thrashed fourth seed VlS Rithika (AP) 6-2, 6-0. Alisha Samal and Rutuparna Choudhury made host Odisha proud by securing the girls’s doubles title with a 4-0, 4-2 convincing win over AP combination of Bhavya Ramineni and Maanya Viswanath. Title winners in each category gained 25 AITA ranking points each and the losing finalists 20 points apiece. Odisha Tennis Association secretary Madhusudan Padhi and eminent cardiologist Dr P K Pradhan handed over the trophies at the closing function. Host Odisha Tennis Players’ Parents’ Association president P K Patnaik, vice-presidents Debabrata Chhotray and Sarbeswar Mohapatra, secretary Jamini Mohan Mohanty, joint-secretary Amitav Saran, treasurer Choudhury B K Das and tournament referee Jatin Batsya were present on the occasion.
Gangpur win in National Jr (Div-B) Hockey tourney
Bhubaneswar : Hockey Gangpur Odisha thrashed Puducherry by 9-1 goals in their inaugural match of the 4th Hockey India junior Men National Championship 2014 (Division B) at M R Stadium Egmore and YMCA Stadium in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on Monday, informed Hockey Gangpur secretary Debasish Gouda. In Pool A match, Gangpur played a strong game throughout the match and gained confidence in the first half itself, when Deepak lakra scored a goal in the seventh minute of the game. In the next six minutes, Sudeep Kerketta scored another goal for the team, followed by few more excellent strikes from other players as well. Other players who raised the confidence level of the Hockey Gangpur-Odisha team with beautiful strokes were Pratap lakra and Rasananda Khalkho who scored two goals each in the 20th,69th minute and 22nd, 39th minute of the game respectively. Puducherry seemed weak in the game, however, V Veerathaminzhan managed to strike a goal in the 58th minute failed to change the scenario. Hockey Gangpur’s Arbeen Kujur also came out as a surprise and scored two goals, leading the team towards an interesting victory with 9-1 on board. Results Pool A: Hockey Gangpur Odisha 9 Deepak lakra(7 mins), Sudeep Kerketta (13 mins), Pratap lakra (20 and 69 mins), Rasananda Khalkho (22 and 39 mins), Arbeen Kujur (24 and 61 mins), Sibren lakra (38 mins) bt Puducherry 1 V Veerathaminzhan (58mins).
6 Odia girls selected for Sr Women hockey camp
Bhubaneswar : Six Odisha senior women got selected in the preparatory camp for the Senior Women Core probables for the FIH Champions Challenge-1 is all set to commence at NSNIS, Patiala from Monday. Deep Grace Ekka, Sunita lakra, Asunta lakra (defender), Namita Tappo, lilima Minz (mid-fielder) and Anupa Barla (forward) are the Odisha players among the 33 probables list to participate in the three-week-long camp. The FIH Champions Challenge 1 is scheduled to be held at Glasgow from April 27 to May 4. India is placed in Pool A with Korea, Belgium alongwith the host Scotland while USA, South Africa, Spain and Ireland are placed in Pool B. The opening match for India is against Korea on 27th April. Indian Senior Women team will depart for Ireland on 10th April 2014 to play a three match test series against their national side for preparations and acclimatization ahead of the Champions Challenge 1. The FIH Champions Challenge 1 is a crucial tournament for Indian Senior Women team as post that they will play for other major events like Commonwealth Games in Glasgow (Scotland) and Asian Games in Incheon (Korea).