Srabani, Amiya win gold in Athletic meet
Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s ace sprinter Srabani Nanda and Amiya Kumar Mallick bagged gold medal in the women and men 100 meter events respectively in the 19th Federation Cup national senior athletics championships at Mangala Stadium in Mangaluru on Saturday.
Srabani bagged the gold by clocking 11.59 seconds and the silver medal claimed by Dutee Chanda with the timing of 11.86 seconds. MG Padmini of Karnataka won the bronze medal with 11.89 seconds.
With the timing of 10.56 seconds Amiya won the gold medal by chest finishing. The sliver and bronze medals received by Jyoti Shankar Debnath of Army and Krishna Kumar Rane of Maharashtra by clocking 10.56 and 10.58 seconds respectively. The Federation Cup, dubbed as a selection trials for the Indian aspirants looking to take part in the Asian Athletics Championships at Wuhan (China).
As much as 1,040 athletes representing 36 teams are taking part in the four-day meet to be concluded on Sunday. It was a nail biting fight and I won the top medal which gives me a lot of satisfaction. On the besis of the results I got selected for the Asian Track and Field Championship to be held at China. I thanks Mahanadi Coal Field (MCl), my institution KIIT and my coach Nelamadev Deo without their support I cannot achieve this, said Amiya Kumar Mallick.
India to face Japan in Test Series today
Bhubaneswar: As the FIH Hockey World league Semi-Final (Men) 2015 proves to be a crucial tournament for all the hockey national teams in the world, India and Japan have started their preparation with the India-Japan Test Series to be contested at Kalinga Stadium here on May 3 to 9. After finishing 3rd at the 24th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup recently, the Indian team is looking to continue their form and will try-out new strategies in the Series. With a 24-member squad, Chief Coach Paul van Ass aims to utilise all the players on the field and use new team-combinations in preparation for the World league Semi-Final Round. Knowing the fact that Japan has a strong forward line and their players very skilful with speed, Indian players have started analysing their previous games and working on various strategies to tackle them. FIH Rank 9, India has more strength than FIH Rank 16 Japan, but the host team is not taking any chance and they will utilise their full strength of the squad against the visitors. last time the two teams met in the 2013 AHF Asian Champions Trophy in Japan, the host team defeated India by 2-1 in the tournament. The team management has called back a few young players, such as forward player lalit Upadhyay, defender Yuvraj Walmiki and midfielder Pardeep Mor, in the senior team and have included them in their key game-plans against Japan. On the other hand, Japan has arrived with full strength and all the senior players in their 19-member squad for the India-Japan Test Series. After finishing in the 6th position in the Incheon Asian Games 2014, the Japanese team is taking the series very seriously as they are also preparing for the FIH Hockey World league Semi-Final in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Japan will face the toughest teams of the word there and this series against India will give the ample opportunities to improve the skills of their players. However, they have not played matches against India in the last few years and due to that, they don’t know much about the Indian players and their individual styles. Japan’s first match will be the most crucial for them as they have to understand the Indian’s in a very short period of time and strategise their style according to their opponent.
“In the present day International Hockey, you can’t take any team lightly. Once The Netherlands team lost a match against Japan, just because they took them lightly and didn’t utilise their full strength. Though they are ranked below us, the Japan team is a good team and they have been improving in the right direction. They have a very strong forward line-up and speed is their key strength. With the new South Korean coach Keonwook Kang, the Japan team has improved a lot in all areas. Being an Asian team, they are playing European style of hockey, which make them a tough opponent,” said , India coach Paul van Ass. “This will be an important Test Series for us as we are preparing for the FIH Hockey World league Semi-Final and this series will give us good opportunities. We haven’t played against India in the last few years and we don’t know how they will play tomorrow. We have to read their game as early as possible in tomorrow’s match and draw our strategies according to that. We will start with our natural game and play with full force. India is a strong team and they have been playing good hockey in the last few years. It will be a tough contest between us and we are looking forward to it,” said Japan Coach Keonwook Kang during the team’s practice season.
Odisha win All India Gateball tourney
Bhubaneswar : Bhubaneswar Women and Odisha Men team emerged champion in their respective category of the three-day-long All India Open Gateball Tournament, which concluded at Kalinga Stadium on Thursday, being organised by Odisha Gateball Association in collaboration with Gateball Association of India. West Bengal and ODM Public School were finished second and third respectively in the men category. Similarly, Maharashtra and Odisha were finished second and third respectively in the women event. MP Prasana Patasani, Minister Turisim and Cluture Ashok Panda, MlA Priyadarshi Mishra, Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena, OGA president Bikash Chandra Pattnaik and secretary Md Azam and Naba Ranjan Patnaik were present in the closing ceremony
State Jr Women Hockey team announced
Bhubaneswar: Hockey Odisha announced the State junior women team and the team left from Cuttack on Saturday to participate in the 5thHockey India Junior National Women Hockey Championship schedule to be held at Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh from May 3 to 10.
Nilprojita Majhi would lead the team as captain. Pradeep Kumar Sarangi and Dolly Singh would accompany the team as coach and manager respectively. Team: Arati Reshma Toppo (GK), Ashmita Barla, Manju lakra, Elice Ekka, Rashimita Minz, Punam Minz, Priyanka Ekka, Seema lakra, Sangita Rose Kullu, Roshni lakra, Nilprojit Majhi (Captain), Dipti lakra, Sarojini Ekka, Elima Minz, Mariana Kujur, Ashim Kanchan Barla, Domnika Kujur, Rosalia lakra, Dolly Singh (Manager), Pradeep Kumar Sarangi (coach).