‘We get rebirth thanks to sports’
Bhubaneswar: After the devastating earthquake in Kathmandu on Saturday, the National U-14 women football team reached safely in Delhi on Sunday. Five Odia women footballers including assistant coach Shraddhanjali Samantaray were the part of the national squad landed safely in Delhi. The Odia players would reach Bhubaneswar on Monday, while Sradhanjali would stay back in Delhi. Believe it or not it’s like rebirth for we all. Thanks to god, family, well wisher and my passionate sports football. I cannot explain how shocking was the incident, fortunately we could not affected by the massive earthquake. May be our passion for football which helped us, at the time of earthquake we were present on the play grounds, said Sradhanjali Samantary. Blessing in disguise as the team suffered defeat in the semifinal on Friday from Nepal. On Saturday morning the team had been left the hotel for the third and fourth place match. Nothing has happen to a single player we are safe and comfortable in Delhi, added Sradhanjali.
Saheed Sporting to organise U-16 cricket camp
Bhubaneswar: leading club of the city Saheed Sporting Club would organise summer cricket camp at Saheed Sporting Ground here from May 9 to 24, informed secretary Pankaj Pattnaik. Cricketers below 16 years age group would participate in the camp. State Ranji team coach Debasis Mohanty would guide the campers. Mohnaty would accompany by ranji team selector P Jaya Chandra. Senior players Sourav Sahegal, Sushant Rath, Saroj Barik and NIS coach Pradip Mohanty, Bharat Keshori Das, Radhaswaym Nayak and trainer Manoj Biswal would advice the campers in different time. For further details players can contact 9337171231 and 9040302949.
FAO Council Meeting held
Bhubaneswar: Football Association of Odisha (FAO )’s council meeting held at O C A Club, Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Sunday and the future programs of the association has been checked out.
In the meeting it was resolved that more attention should be given to Grassroots Development Program as the future of Football lies there. More focus should be given in opening Grassroots’ Football Centers in the State. The Inter District Club Championship will be held at Sundargarh and the FAO league be conducted in the month of June 2015. In order to conduct the Sub Junior Girls National Football Championship successfully different sub committees were formed. 23 States are going to participate in the championship and this will be played from 8th to 24th May at Cuttack. A one minute silence was observed to condole the sad demise of Janaki Ballav Patnaik (Ex Chief Minister of Odisha & Ex President of Orissa Football Association). Debashish Samantary (President- FAO) presided over the proceedings. Asirbad Behera (Hon’y Secretary- O O A & O C A),Sanjay Behera (Hon’y Secretary- FA Odisha) .Bijoy Das (Vice President - FA Odisha), Bhakta Ballav Das (Vice President - FA Odisha),. Dillip Kumar Sahoo (Vice President - FA Odisha) ,Mr. Tadit Kumar Rout (Vice President - FA Odisha),Rushinath Sahoo(Joint Secretary- FA Odisha),Avijit Paul (Joint Secretary- FA Odisha), Sangeeta Sharma - Jt Secretary- FA Odisha) and many Council members were also present in the meeting.
Hockey Gangpur suffer defeat in hockey semis
Bhubaneswar: It was not very difficult for Uttar Pradeh Hockey to claim a place in the finals as they blanked the opponents Hockey Gangpur-Odisha 3-0 goals in the 5th Senior National Hockey Championship 2015 (Men) Div- A, being played at Pune, Maharashtra on Sunday. Reaching the finals of the tournament, Railway Sports Promotion Board will be seen battling against Uttar Pradesh Hockey to fight for the title while Air India Sports promotion Board and Hockey Gangpur-Odisha will be fighting for the 3rd and 4th position. The game initiated on an easy note with Uttar Pradesh Hockey winning the first goal of the match which was a penalty corner converted by Sunil Yadav in the 7th minute. Gangpur Odisha tried hard to strike a goal for the team to end the first half with an equal score, however, the first half ended in favour of Uttar Pradesh Hockey which was leading with 1-0. The second half of the game again was an excellent display of hockey skills by Uttar Pradesh Hockey leaving no scope for the opponents to bounce back. The second goal from Uttar Pradesh Hockey came in the 32nd minute by Sunil Yadav who converted a penalty stroke for the team taking them ahead towards victory. In the 44th minute of the game Sunil Yadav from Uttar Pradesh Hockey outshined as an asset for the team by converting another penalty corner with which the team marched towards finals with a leading score 3-0. Semifinal-Hockey Uttar Pradesh 3 Sunil Yadav (11min-PC,32 min- PS, 44min-PC) vs Hockey Gangpur-Odisha 0
Hockey Odisha eves suffer defeat
Bhubaneswar: Railway Sports Promotion Board thrashed Hockey Odisha with a huge goal margin of 10-0 goals in the opening day of the 5th Senior National Hockey Championship 2015 (Women) ‘’A’’ Division being played at Saifai, Uttar Pradesh. Both the teams were seen striving to score in the first few minutes of the game. However, it was Navjot Kaur from Railway Sports Promotion Board who initiated the chain of goals when she smashed a field goal in the early third minutes of the game. Within just two minutes of the first goal, Soundaraya Yendala scored the second goal in the fifth minute for Railway Sports Promotion Board and doubled the lead to 2-0. Continuing to assert pressure on Hockey Odisha, it was Punam Barla who struck a beautiful field goal in the tenth minute of the game. The game seemed to be dominated by Railway Sports Promotion Board as Anuradha Devi Th. scored four goals in the 12th, 33rd, 36thand 58th minute. Railway Sports Promotion Board confirmed a tough game for the opponents by striking another field goal coming from lilima Minz in the 29thminute of the game followed excellent shots by Anupa Barla and Sunita lakra in the 42nd and 50th minute respectively. As Hockey Odisha was unable to convert any scoring opportunities, the game ended on a dry run for them and Railway Sports Promotion Board declared a remarkable 10-0 win. Pool A Railway Sports Promotion Board 10 Navjot Kaur (3min- FG), Soundaraya Yendala (5min- FG), Punam Barla (10min- FG), Anuradha Devi Th (12min- FG, 33min- FG, 36min- FG, and 58min- FG), lilima Minz (29min- FG), Anupa Barla (42min- FG), Sunita lakra (50min- PC) vs Hockey Odisha 0.