Cuttack: Rahul Nayak emerged champions in the junior category of the 24th All Orissa State Ranking Billiards and Snooker Championships at the Cuttack Club here, Thursday.
Rahul thrashed Avinash Mohapatra 3-0 (44-33, 75-51, 47-29) in the final. Earlier in the semifinals, Rahul had defeated Santanu Kanhar in a hard-fought contest.
Rahul is a class IX student of St Xaviers High School in the city. He is again the student of former state champion, Subrat Das. In fact, Rahul is the second student of Subrat to win the state junior title – the first being Ashutosh Padhy.
In the senior billiards category, Subrat and Kunal Agarwal advanced to the summit clash round. The final comes off Friday. In the semifinals Subrat beat Rakesh Roshan Pradhan 3-0 and Kunal spanked Amiya Ranjan Nayak by an identical margin.
Ex-hoopster no more
Former basket ball player turned official Ranjit Sarangi passed away at a city hospital here Thursday. He was 47. He is survived by his wife and daughter.
Ranjit had represented Utkal University in the All India Inter-University basketball tournament four times. He and his twin brother Sangramjeet formed a formidable combination for Bhubaneswar basketball team.
After hanging up his boots Ranjit made notable contribution in the field of basketball as an official. Ranjit was serving as the joint secretary of both Bhubaneswar Basketball Association and Orissa Basketball Association.
Badminton tourney
IVth Nalinikanta Mohanty Memorial State Open Ranking badminton championship was inaugurated by state sports secretary Vishal Dev in Bhubaneswar, Thursday. Three hundred participants are taking part in this tournament.
post news network