Goa, Nov 1 (IANS): In yet another significant success for Odisha’s contingent, the rowing team secured two bronze medals. Odisha also registered their first bronze in the Wushu discipline to follow up on Odisha’s athletic silver in the Men 4×100m relay event.
Odisha’s medal tally is currently at 26, with five gold, nine silver and twelvebronze medals, already matching their overall haul from the previous of the National Games.
The rowing triumphs were led by Ritu Kaudi and Sonali Swain, earning bronze in the W2-F1 event and bronze for Odisha in Rowing, while Sanjukta Dungdung, Sweeti, Anshika Bharti and Reshma Kumari Minz won bronze in the W4-F1 event.
Speaking on the Rowing contingent's success, coach Inderpal Singh spoke highly of the athletes’ performance. He said, “ We are quite pleased with the performance though we had the potential to do better. However, it has been challenging for them. Rowing is a training intensive discipline, some of our coaches including myself have been away with the Indian contingent for Asian Games. Despite this, I think the athletes have performed admirably.”
Elaborating on the team’s preparation that takes place at the SAI, NCOE in Jagatpur, Inderpal Singh spoke highly of the infrastructure at their disposal, “ Inderpal Singh said, “We have a good set up in Jagatpur so we are quite fortunate. Furthermore, the Govt. of Odisha has extensively supported us as well.”
Inderpal Singh further added, “we have more events coming up later in the week and hopefully we can add to our current medal tally.”
In another event, Biram Tudu took home the bronze medal for Odisha in Wushu at the Taolu event marking Odisha’s first medal of the competition in the Wushu discipline.
Furthermore, the Odisha Women’s Football team marked their place in the semifinals, despite logging a 0-4 defeat at the hands of Haryana. The team is scheduled to play West Bengal on November 3rd.
The athletic team that triumphed in the Men’s 4×100m relay event comprised Amiya Kumar Malik, DM Jairam, Lalu Prasad Bhoi, Aryan Ekka. Notably all four of the athletes are cadets of Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics High Performance Centre. Earlier in the week, A Graceson Jeeva bagged a silver medal in Men’s 110m hurdles.
In women’s hockey, a resilient Odisha squad fought hard against Madhya Pradesh but conceded the match with a 2-3 scoreline. Neha Lakra and Lilima Minz were the goal scorers for Odisha.