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As the competition season goes on, the medal tally of the Khel Vikas (KV) athletes too has increased. The start of the New Year has brought fantastic results for the KV athletes in Weightlifting. Athletes from Pro Sport Development's (PSD) Khel Vikas project have participated in three national weightlifting competitions this season, representing Odisha at various age groups.
The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan (RGKA) National Weightlifting Championship was held between the 1st and 4th of January, 2015, in Bellary, Karnataka. Out of the eight athletes from KV’s weightlifting academy who participated, four of them registered victories with two silvers and two bronze medals. Sitamani Hembram claimed silver in the girls’ 58 kg category and Puni Raita won a bronze medal in the girls’ 53-kg category.
From the boys, Ashwini Kumar Naik and Prasanta Badamundi won silver and bronze in the 50 and 56-kg category respectively. Ashwini also recorded a new personal best in Snatch (63kg), while Prasanta gave a new best of 91kg in Clean and Jerk and a new best of 161kg as his competition total.
It’s competition time!
Following the success in RGKA, Sanatan Mallik, one of the student-athletes currently training at the Khel Vikas Centre of Excellence, represented Odisha and bagged a bronze medal at the Nationals School Competition. He, along with eight other athletes, will now be representing the state in the upcoming Open Youth and Junior Nationals in Jagadhri, Haryana, from the 15th to 23rd January, 2015. PSD's weightlifting coach Cormac Whelan too will be travelling with the squad. Cormac has also been appointed as the Head Coach for the Odisha Youth team for second year in a row.
The Khel Vikas girls will be competing next at the National Schools Competition in Hyderabad from the 10th to 14th of January, 2015. In addition, more athletes from Pro Sport Development are set to participate in different sporting disciplines as the competition season goes on. RGKA State competition in athletics and volleyball are not far away and athletes are getting ready to give their best. Also, the shuttlers are on swing as they are geared up for the local badminton competition.
