Odisha males bag bronze in Basketball National Championship

Bhubaneswar(10/10/2025): The Special Special Olympics Bharat Odisha Basketball male team bagged one bronze on the concluding day of the National Championship held at KT Global School in Khordha from 5th to 9th of this month.

The team performed very well in the skill assessments and divisioning stages.

In the competition stage the Odisha B Unified male team beat Uttar Pradesh comprehensively with a score of 18 to 4.

However, it lost narrowly to Maharashtra by 11 to 12.

Then it lost to a stronger Puducherry by 4 to 14 bagging the Bronze in the process. "It was an exceptional feat considering the fact that the team was playing its maiden National Championship in Basketball and had very little practice before it because the players were selected from various parts of the State due to their performances in the State Selection Trials.

We are sure that the teams will do much better in the future with consistency," opined Prakash K Rath, Area Director of Special Olympics Bharat - Odisha speaking to the media on the occasion. The Odisha male team consisted of Debasish (Captain), and Harshit Priyam of Bhubaneswar, Deepak Chandan of Balangir, Subhranshu Maharana of Rourkela and Sumit Kumar Naik of Bhadrak.

Jhasketan Sahoo of Balangir was the Coach whose hardwork and dedication paid off.

The winning teams received their medals and certificates from the hands of Jyoti Ranjan Nanda, Sports Director, IIG Sports Academy and Anshuman Bal, Director, Strategy & Business Development, IIG Sports Academy.

The matches were played in the excellent basketball courts of KT Global School and Centurion University of Technology & Management with the support of the Department of Sports, Government of Odisha.

The officials conducting the matches were all certified and affiliated to the Basketball Federation of India and Odisha ensuring fair play and adherence to the Games Rules of Special Olympics International. The President, Sunita Mund, Vice President, Umakant Sarangi, Area Director, Prakash K Rath, Sports Director, Sasmita Mohapatra, State Program Coordinator, Arpita Mohapatra and other Board Members of SOB-Odisha have congratulated both the female and male medal winning teams of Odisha for their achievements.