BHUBANESWAR 06-Sep-2015
The Saroj Mahasuara Memorial Award for Upcoming cricketer and Outstanding Umpire for the year 2015 were conferred on Sushree Dibyadarshini Pradhan and Asit Kumar Patnaik respectively at a function here at Town Club ground today.
State Tourism and Culture Minister Ashok Chandra Panda handed over the award in the presence of city mayor Anant Narayan Jena and Saroj Mahasuara Memorial Committee coordinator Manoj Mohapatra. Eight budding cricketers of Town Club were felicitated on the occasion.
Bhubaneswar allrounder Pradhan received the award for putting up impressive performance for the past three years. She represented India A women`s team against New Zealand, Sri Lanka and South Africa. She was also part of the Odisha team that finished runners-up in the Inter-State Women`s One-Day Tournament earlier this year.
Jaypore-based Patnaik, who led Koraput in Kalahandi Cup Senior Inter-District Cricket Tournament as a player, has been officiating domestic matches of Odisha Cricket Association after passing out in the BCCI Level-1 umpiring examination in 2005.
The upcoming cricketer award was instituted in the year 2004 as a tribute to local umpire Saroj Mahasuara, who died in a road accident in 2002. The best umpire award was added in the year 2009.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PHOTO: Sushree Pradhan (2nd from right) and Asit Patnaik (2nd from left) received the Saroj Mahasuara Memorial Award in Bhubaneswar on Sept 6, 2015.
