Odisha sportspersons who left a mark on 2017

Bhubaneswar: Speak of achievements in sports and Odisha shines with flying colours. This year, Odisha saw some amazing sportspersons who brought laurels to the state! Here’s a list of all those who made the state proud:

Anupama Swain– Woman athlete Anupama Swain made us all proud by bagging the gold medal for India in Asian Classic Powerlifting Championship held at Alleppey in Kerala this year. This woman constable from Keonjhar also won gold in personal squat and silver in the bench press.

Jayanti Behera– Para athlete from Odisha, Jayanti Behera brought laurels to the state by bagging silver medal in a 100-meter race at the Asian Youth Para Games-2017 in Dubai. Prior to this, she had also clinched gold medals for India in 400-metre event at the World Junior Para Athletic Championships held in Nottwil, Switzerland in August and at the China Open Para Athletic Grand Prix Championship in May this year.

Padmini Rout– She grabbed the 44th Iwasa National Premier Women’s Chess Championship trophy this month and sizzled at the closing ceremony in a purple saree.

Aparajita Gochhikar– Odisha’s Aparajita Gochhikar made both the state and country proud with her achievement by winning bronze in Asian Amateur Chess Championship 2017 at Chiang Mai in Thailand, this year. She also is India’s youngest national coach to represent the country in Asian Youth Chess Championship-2017.

Basant Mohanty– He became the second cricketer from Odisha to clinch 300 wickets in first-class cricket. He entered the 300-club on the first day of the Ranji Trophy match against Mumbai at KIIT Stadium this year.

Rashmita Minz– She was picked in the 18-member team of Indian Women’s Hockey for 9th Women’s Asia Cup 2017.

Jauna Murmu– Athlete Jauna Murmu won a gold medal in women’s 400-meter hurdles event at the 57th National Open Athletics Championships in Chennai. Representing ONGC in the meet, she clinched the top prize by clocking 58.25 seconds.

Purnima Hembram– At the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Purnima clinched a gold medal in the pentathlon event. She had earlier won a bronze medal in women’s heptathlon at the Asian Athletics Championships held this year at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.

Sneha Soren and Jhilli Dalabehera– These two weightlifters from the state, clinched gold medals at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games held in Australia. While Jhilli, an inmate of Bhubaneswar Sports Hostel, won in 48 kg junior category competition, Mayurbhanj girl Sneha bagged the medal for 48 kg youth category event.

Braja Bhushan Mohanty– The eminent boxing coach from Odisha, received the prestigious Dronacharya Award from President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi on the occasion of National Sports Day this year. He was honoured for his major contribution in the development of boxing.

Bonita Lakra and Bighnaraj Miridia– Bonita, the Constable in Commissionerate police and Bighnaraj, the Lance Naik with OSAP 6th Battalion clinched gold medals in a 4X400m relay event, and in men’s 400m race respectively at World Police Games held in Los Angeles this year.

Amiya Kumar Mallick and Srabani Nanda– These sprinters won gold in 200m men and women categories respectively at the of 57th National Senior Inter-State Athletic Championships held at the Acharya Nagarjuna University ground in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, this year.

Saina Salonika– Young girl from Odisha, Saina, bagged a gold medal in the U-14 girls’ category of the Commonwealth Chess Championship held in New Delhi this year. CM Naveen Patnaik wrote on Twitter congratulating her and wishing her success ahead.

Dutee Chand– Dutee won two silvers in 100 meters and 4X100 women relay and a bronze in 200-metre event with a timing of 23.70 seconds at Kosanov Memorial Athletic Meet at Almaty in Kazakhstan.

Anish Das Talukdar– The standard 9th student made the state and country proud by being the first player from Odisha to win an International Taekwondo medal at the Cadet category of the competition. He bagged the bronze medal at Second Cadet Asian Kyorugi Taekwondo Championships at Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

Soundarya Kumar Pradhan– The 18-year-old visually challenged Bargarh boy bagged the bronze medal at International Braille Chess Association (IBCA) Asian Chess Championship at the Dr TMA Pai Hall in Manipal.

Jafar Iqbal and Sukhram Majhi– Team India thrashed arch-rivals Pakistan by 9 wickets in the final to win the T20 Blind World Cup 2017 title in which Odisha’s Jafar Iqbal and Sukhram Majhi were the key players.