Odisha see more success at the ongoing 37th National Games as Kayaking and Canoeing team secured two medals including a silver medal in K2 M+1000m event and a bronze Medal C2M-1000m on Saturday.
Odisha’s Javelin star Kishore Kumar Jena also won bronze in the men’s javelin event.
Odisha scripted history winning their first ever bronze medal in Women’s Fours at the Lawn Bowl event as well. In men’s hockey, Odisha defeated West Bengal 12-0, while the Odisha men’s and women’s team began their Kho-Kho campaign with victories.
The silver medal winning team at the K2 M+1000m event comprised Tomrhilnganba Ngashepam & K Hangembam Nanao Meitei while Borisha Singh and Avinash Shingham won bronze in C2M-1000m.
The third placed Women’s Four Lawn Bowl team featured Roshni Sahu, Rajeswari Seth, Bishnupriya Bohidar and Padmasinee Putel.
Coach Laishram Johnson Singh, who heads the Kayaking and Canoeing contingent for Odisha, spoke on the day’s victories, “I am happy with today’s performance. We missed the gold medal by a very small margin, but it is also important to note that water is different here and with the humidity it takes time for athletes to get used to the conditions”, he said.
Odisha Kayaking and Canoeing contingent comprises 20 members including four support staff, Coach Johnson further added that the team has been preparing extensively for the National Games due to being placed at the SAI NCOE in Jagatpur.
"We train almost every day throughout the year at SAI. This is one of the advantages of residing at the facility. We always have access to some good equipment for training as well," said Coach.
Odisha is still scheduled to compete in nine more events in the Kayaking and Canoeing discipline, Coach Johnson expressed his confidence at further medal prospects, “This is a talented group of individuals so we can definitely expect more medals over the next few days.”, he said.
Earlier in the day, Asian Games silver medalist Kishore Kumar Jena secured the third place in Men’s Javelin with his day’s best reading at 78.47m. Jena’s medal was Odisha’s seventh medal in Athletics at the ongoing National Games.
At the Kho-Kho event, Odisha’s men defeated a strong Kerala team in a grueling victory while the women’s team also defeated Karnataka to begin their respective campaigns with victory.