26-Day Annual Sports Meet For SOA Cup Kicks Off In Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA) Deemed to be University’s 26-day sports meet for the SOA Cup got underway at the university campus here on Wednesday.

Students of different institutions under the Deemed to be University will be competing in a dozen events. They are — football (only boys), cricket, volleyball (only boys), basketball, tennis, kho kho (only boys), throwball (only girls), table tennis, softball, chess, kabaddi and a competition for best physique (boys).

Kho Kho has been introduced for the first time this year.

Siba Mohanty, Resident Editor of The New Indian Express, Bhubaneswar, was the special guest at the inaugural programme of SOA Cup.

Among other dignitaries who were present were SOA Vice-Chancellor Prof. Bijay Kumar Sahu, Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof. Pradipta Kumar Nanda, Pro-Vice Chancellor-cum-Registrar Prof. Bibhuti Bhushan Pradhan and Dean (Students’ Welfare) Prof. Jyoti Ranjan Das. The vote of thanks was proposed by Sunita Barma, Sports Officer.

Abinash Tripathy, a state-level table tennis player, took the oath on behalf of all participants.

The participating institutions in the annual event include Institute of Technical Education and Research, Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital, Institute of Dental Sciences, SUM Nursing College, Institute of Business and Computer Studies, School of Hotel Management, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, SOA National Institute of Law, Institute of Agricultural Sciences and Institute of Veterinary Science & Animal Husbandry.

In another first, students of Institute of Higher Secondary Education — the Plus II Science College run by SOA — are participating in a few disciplines.