Odisha’s National Games glory continues, Medal tally rises to 22 with 5 gold

Goa: Odisha continued to shine in athletics with A. Graceson Jeeva bagging a silver medal in Men’s 110 m hurdles and in yet another Aquatics success, the 400 x 100m Women’s Medley Relay team secured the bronze at the ongoing National Games 2023 in Goa.

Meanwhile, the Odisha Women’s Football Team registered its second consecutive victory, defeating Goa 4-0.  With Hockey action commencing today, Odisha’s Women’s Hockey Team played out a hard-fought draw against West Bengal while the Men’s team were defeated 1-2 by Maharashtra.

Odisha Women’s Football Team’s 4-0 victory was powered by goals from. Pyari Xaxa, Lynda, Shubhadra Sahoo and /Sumitra Hembram. Speaking on the team’s strong start, Mr. Crispin Chettri, Head Coach of the Women’s Football Team said, “The girls played very well today and in the previous game as well, but it is important that we keep improving every day. It is not only about winning and losing, but also about constant improvement.”

The former Indian footballer also said, “an event like National Games is always challenging, especially when you have a young team. Youngsters need time to get used to the environment.” He further added, “to make it easier for the team to settle down, the government of Odisha sent us to Goa ahead of the competition to engage in a week-long exposure trip. This has been very helpful as the players got used to the atmosphere and played friendly matches.”

With the team scheduled to face Haryana on Thursday, the Coach went onto express his optimism for the remainder of the competition, “I think we have a very good team, and we could be a strong medal prospect,” he opined.

While the swimming contingent will be proud of the 400 x 100m Women’s Medley Relay team’s bronze medal, their second medal in the discipline. Mannata Mishra and Divyanka Pradhan narrowly missed the mark finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

Amongst the day’s other results, Odisha’s Jayalaxmi also qualified for Round of 16 in Indian Round in Archery. The Odisha Men’s Football team was defeated by Maharashtra 1-2 in their first game of the campaign with Subash Pujari standing out as the sole goal scorer.