Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, April 30: Orissa athletes performed splendidly to win three gold and one silver on the third and concluding day of the 20th Federation Cup National Senior Athletic Championship at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi, Saturday.
State sprint-queens Srabani Nanda and Dutee Chand secured gold and silver medals respectively in the women’s 200 metres race. Srabani had a timing of 23.39 seconds while Dutee clocked 23.41 seconds to finish the race.
Purnima Hembram, participating in heptathlon bagged another gold medal, scoring 5713 points in the event. Whereas, Jauna Murmu, representing ONGC also secured gold medal in 400 metres hurdles event with a timing of 58.60 seconds.
Earlier, Dutee and Srabani had bagged gold and silver medals in the 100 metres race, Thursday. Dutee had set a new national record by completing the race in 11.33 seconds. She broke the previous best record set by her statemate Rachita Panda (11.38 seconds in 2000).
Both Srabani and Dutee have targeted Indian Grand Prix-II for securing Rio berths. Meanwhile Amiya Mallick had a forgettable competition after a splendid start. He also set a new national record in the 100 metres by finishing the race in 10.26 seconds. He broke the previous record of Abdul N Qureshi (10.30 seconds in 2010).
However, the records didn’t help the sprinting duo to secure Rio Olympic berths. Amiya will next participate in the World Athletic Meets in Taiwan and Britain in June. He has planned to skip the Indian GP-II due to injury.
Ameek claims title
Orissa girl Ameek Kiran Batth along with her partner Richa Chaugle emerged champions in the girls’ doubles category of the U-14 National Series Tennis at Hotel Ravine in Panchghani, Saturday.
The duo claimed the doubles title scripting 6-1, 6-4 straight set-win over Maharashtra pair of Gargo Pawar and Bela Tamhankar in a lope-sided final.
Cash awards
Karatekas Abhisekh Patnaik, Bonali Das and Sagarika Patra from Utkal Karate School, Rourkela were awarded with cash prizes of `15,000 each by the state government here under the sports incentive scheme following their performances in the National Karate Championship in New Delhi in 2014. The karatekas had secured bronze medals in their respective categories.
