Odisha Girls Felicitated Before The Asian Games

Bhubaneswar: Three women athelete and a badminton player from Odisha were felicitated at a sports get-together here on Sunday.

These sporting talents will represent India at the 18th Asian Games to be held in Jakarta from August 18.

The event was organised by KIIT and KISS, which congratulated the four girls, Dutee Chand, Jauna Murmu, Purnima Hembram and Rutuparna Panda, for bringing laurels to the state. They are studying in these institutes.

Only Dutee and Rutuparna could attend the ceremony.

Dutee, who had participated in Rio Olympics, has qualified for 100m and 200m events. Jauna and Purnima have qualified for 400m hurdles and Heptathlon respectively, while Rutuparna will be part of the Indian Team Badminton Squad.

Dutee has been practising for around 10 hours a day. “My forte is the 100m race and I will try my best to bag a medal in the event,” she said.

Rutuparna too has been working hard and believes in no short cuts. “Only hardwork, discipline, dedication and determination can take you to the top,” she said.

Founder, KISS and KIIT, Achyuta Samanta seemed proud and glad while felicitating the girls. “Our students have been bringing glory for the country in the field of sports for the last 10 years. They have been representing India and Odisha regularly at international and national level sports meets, including Olympics, Asian and Commonwealth Games,” he said.

KIIT & KISS have about 5000 active sportspersons, 70% among them girls. Over 70 students are international sportspersons and have participated in one or more international sports meets in 14 disciplines. Over 800 students have played in national level meets in 26 disciplines. About 4,000 students have participated in state-level sports meets or national university/school games, a press release of KIIT said.