Orissa kickboxers sweep National team titles

Host Orissa made a clean sweep of both the sub-junior and senior team titles in the National Kickboxing Championship, which concluded at KIIT University in Bhubaneswar today. Anshuman Behera added another jewel to Orissa`s crown by emerging as the best fighter in the sub-junior category. The best fighter award in senior category went to Delhi’s Mohit Bharadwaj. In the team championships, Orissa bagged a double by winning both the sub-junior and senior team championships with 45 and 59 points respectively. Orissa secured 24 medals (6 gold, 9 silver, 9 bronze) in sub-junior category and 33 medals (9 gold, 8 silver, 16 bronze) in senior section. Maharashtra finished runner-up in both the sections. On the last day of the championships, Avishek Biswal (gold): Rahul, Bikash Mishra, Krushnachandra, Jyoti Ranjan, Vicky (all silver) and Sabyasachi, Deb Kumar Ray, Jitu Nayak, Ajit Kumar, S Ranjan, Swapna Surit, Siddharth Sekhar, Rinki Routray, Ghanashyam, Siba Basant (all bronze) won medals for the host state. Medals tally: Sub-junior: 1. Orissa (6+9+9), 2. Maharashtra (6+7+8), 3. Delhi (3+3+9), 4. Manipur (5+0+8). Senior: 1. Orissa (9+8+16), 2. Maharashtra (7+7+16), 3. Delhi (8+10+7). PHOTOS: TOP: Orissa senior team lifts trophy at the National Kickboxing Championship in Bhubaneswar on Oct 4, 2009. BOTTOM: Orissa sub-junior team lifts trophy at the National Kickboxing Championship in Bhubaneswar on Oct 4, 2009.