Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Sept 13: Six Orissa karatekas have been selected to the Indian team for the VIIIth Commonwealth Karate Championships at the Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi, September 18-20. They are Valena Valentina (women’s kata), Anupama Swain (55kg women’s fight), Payal Baral (U-17 girls’ fight), Nihar Ranjan Swain (U-21 boys’ fight), Abhisek Patnaik (U-21 boys’ kata), Udit Udam (U-15 boys’ fight). The names were announced by the Orissa State Karate Association (OSKA) at a press conference at the Utkal Karate School here Sunday.
All the selected karatekas are undergoing training at Utkal Karate School now. They will leave for New Delhi, Monday. “We are not sure about the competitive standard in the Commonwealth event. But the competition level will be definitely tough. So, it is hard to predict about our performance,” stated OSKA secretary Hari Prasad Patnaik.
“We have a solid and experienced squad. They are putting in a lot of hard work in training and are experienced karatekas. Hopefully they will perform well and bring laurels for India as well as Orissa,” he added.
Among others, Bhubaneswar Mayor Anant Narayan Jena, Bhubaneswar North MLA Priyadarshi Mishra and OSKA president Sanat Nayak wished the selected participants all the best for the mega event.
Sub-junior team
OSKA also announced a 14- member Orissa squad for the National Sub-junior Karate Championships at the Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi starting September 17. The team will depart for Delhi, September 14. (The squad): Biswajit Samal, Sonali Das, Ritesh Mohanty, Aryan Rout, Mitali Madhusmita, Surya Narayan Majhi, Saranya Roy, Venkateswar Sahu, Satyam Mohanty, Swagatika Sahoo, Anuska Priyadarshini; Coach: Rajiv Singh; Manager: Dilip Kumar Jena.
