Mahanta, Jena to get Ashok Patnaik Awards

Youth international athlete Ranjita Mahanta and football coach Subodh Kumar Jena were today selected to receive the Ashok Patnaik Memorial Sports Award for the year 2009 as the best young sportsperson and best coach respectively. Jajpur Kabaddi Association (Khanditara) was chosen to receive the award as the best sports organisation. According to memorial committee coordinator Sambit Mohapatra on Friday, State Sports Hostel girl Mahanta has created new hope for athletics in Orissa by putting up good performance in several major competitions including World Youth Championship. Cuttack-based Jena has been grooming footballers for the past 18 years. Among his proteges, Saroj Patnaik, Singhu Marandi, Nedup Dupka, Sheikh Imtiaz Ali have gone on to represent the country at sub-junior or junior levels. The award was instituted nine years ago in the memory of sports journalist Ashok Patnaik. Past recipients included well-known sportspersons Prabodh Tirkey, Singhu Marandi, Budhuram Singh, Amiya Mallick, Jhililata Sena, Subhadra Pradhan, Kiran Manisha Mohanty, Padmini Rout, Shrabani Nanda and coaches Arun Das, Kishore Mania, Nanda Patnaik, Subash Dasmohapatra, Panchanan Gantayat, Jose Jacob and Nila Madhab Deo. This year’s awards will be presented at Sahid Sporting ground in Bhubaneswar on August 18, which conicides with the death anniversary of Ashok Patnaik.