Odisha finish runners-up in Women Football
Bhubaneswar: There was no stopping the Manipur juggernaut as they downed reigning champions Odisha 3-1 in a lopsided summit clash of the 20th Women’s National Championship to clinch the Nationals crown for the 17th time here at the Golaghat Stadium in Golaghat, Assam on Monday. Goals at the beginning of the first and second period from Bala Devi and one from iconic India player Oinam Bembem Devi sealed the issue for the female footballing hotshots. Odisha reduced the arrears in the dying minutes of the tie courtesy substitute Sakina Nesa’s close range prod but it was too little too late for the defending champions. The North Eastern last won the Championship in 2010. An elated Bembem, who captained the side to the triumph told after the final whistle that though the win looked facile, the young girls of Odisha, mostly U-19 and playing for the first time, showed verve and a lot of promise. I would like to point out that the future stars who played in Odisha colours have a lot of potential.” National Coach Anadi Barua while congratulating Bembem and co added: “It was good to see the Orissa girls fighting till the last minute. They could one and could have added another in added time. This goes to show their spirit. It was always going to be difficult against Manipur.But they were brave and the shoulders never drooped, that’s important.” The Odisha girls, all National team hopefuls, did not cow down amidst stupendous pressure. The defending champions in fact scored a late goal and could have added another which would have brought the match alive in the dying minutes. It took the 16-time champions just three minutes to take the lead. Odisha goalkeeper Sita Sharma failed to judge the flight from Bembem Devi’s cross from the right with Bala pouncing on the loose ball to head home from close. Such was Bala’s confidence that soon after her 31th goal of the campaign, the player of the tournament tried a cheeky dink on the half volley with the ball landing on the roof of the net. The U-19 girls of Odisha were finding life difficult against their senior counterparts who made light work of their five-man midfield deployed specifically to thwart Manipur’s aplomb in the final third. The red shirts doubled their tally without fuss. A low cross inside the area by winger Mandakini Devi saw Bembem stab home with an expertly placed first-time finish. The match was 20 minutes old and Odisha who had stormed into the finals much like their opponents were at sixes and sevens. Odisha though showed great character to still look for the elusive goal and their doggedness paid dividends in the injury time. Substitute Sakina slammed home Subha Prava Rout’s through-ball that sliced open the Manipur defense. From the next move, the white shirts almost scored another. Subha Prava was in the thick of things here missing a gilt-edged chance from six yards.
Results: Manipur 3 (Bala Devi 3rd, 55th), Oinam Bembem Devi 20th) bt Odisha 1 (Sakina Nesa 90+1) .
Squash coach Goutam marry Truptirekha
Bhubaneswar: National repute Odia squash coach Goutam Das tied the nuptial knot with Truptirekha here on Monday. The Bangalore based Gutam starting his second innings of life with city based Truptirekha. Many national repute women , men and youth trained under Gutam and participated in various tournament. Dronacharya awardee’s coach Cyrus Poncha and many players were participated in the marriage ceremony.
Rabin Memorial Cricket tourney from May 14
Bhubaneswar: Biswabharati Cricket Club of Cuttack is going to organise State-level Rabin Memorial Cricket Tournament at SCB Medical College Ground in Cuttack from May 14 to 18. The Tournament will be a 20 overs contest. Five teams each from Cuttack (Union Sporting, Rising Students, Biswabharati, Solar and Juvenile) and from Bhubaneswar (Rameswar Sporting, Saheed Sporting, Scan, Pragati and Mukteswar Cricket Club) have given consent to participate in the tournament. Two matches will be played on each day and the final match shall be played on May 18. The champion will be awarded a cash prize of Rs. 30,000 and the runners up will get Rs. 20,000 and cash prizes will be given for best batsman, bowler, man of the final and tournament. Apart from that man of the match will also be given in all the matches prior to the final. Rajendra Mishra, noted advocate, Shiv Sundar Das, former Indian cricketer, lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra, former Ranji Trophy player and coach and Satya Mohanty, treasurer, OCA will be the guests for the Inaugural Ceremony on May 14. Asirbad Behera secretary, OCA and Rajendra Mishra, noted advocate will be the guests on the closing ceremony scheduled to be held on May 18. In the inaugural day, Mukteswar Cricket Club and Biswabharati Cricket Club would meet Pragati Sporting and Juvenile Club respectively. Group-A teams: Biswabharati Cricket Club, Union Sporting Club, Juvenile Club, Saheed Sporting Club, Solar Cricket Club. Group-B teams: Rising Student Club, Rameswar Sporting Club, Mukteswar Cricket Club, Pragati Sporting Club, Scan Sporting Club.