Cuttack: Making Odisha proud, four participants from Cuttack have won medals — three gold and one bronze — in the World Virtual Yoga Championship 2021.
Smarak Dey, Saraswati Samal and Pranay Keshari bagged gold, while Diptimayee Sethi won bronze.
They were selected for the World Virtual Yoga Championship, held on November 20-21, after a national-level contest.
As many as 168 participants from 26 countries participated in the contest. Of them, 18 were from India and four from Odisha.
All four participants from Cuttack who won gold were trained by Barabati Yoga Association trainer Debashis Haldar.
Seventeen-year-old Smarak, son of Subhashis De and Monalisa Satpathy of Cuttack’s Mangalabag area, has been training under Haldar for the last 10 years.
“I have been learning yoga for the last 10 years. I used to practise for four hours daily. I am very happy after winning the gold. I thank my guru and parents, who are always there to guide me,” he said.
Smarak is a Class XI student at Krishnamurty World School in Cuttack.
Sudarshan Samal and Meera Samal’s daughter Saraswati (12) has been training under Haldar for the last five years.
Fifteen-year-old Pranay Keshari, son of Paramananda Prasad Keshari and Nitika Keshari of Cuttack’s Tulasipur, is also learning yoga for the last five years. Likewise, 12-year-old Diptimayee, daughter of Ajay Sethi and Banita Sethi of Ranihat area, is learning yoga for the last four years.
“I feel proud that my students have performed so well. Earlier also, my students have won many laurels. But, this time, four students bagged medals. It will encourage me to be more dedicated towards my students,” said Haldar.
