Bhubaneswar: The 14th National wheelchair Fencing Championship, organized by Para Sports Association of Odisha, kick started at East Coast Railway Indoor Stadium here on Friday.
The three-day long sports event was inaugurated by Dr. Deepa Malik, President of the Paralympic Committee of India. The inaugural function was presided over by Chandrashekhar, Sulochana Das, State Commissioner for Persons with Disability, Prashant Hota, President and Group head, CSR, Jindal Steel and Power, Kishore Mohan Mohanty, Corporate Affairs IMFA are graced the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Malik, President of the Paralympic Committee of India, said that Odisha is become a Para sports hub in the country at present days. The Government of Odisha and the Para Sports Association of Odisha are sincerely working in this direction. The Para Olympic Committee of India is trying to organise many national championships and the Para Athletics Championships in upcoming days. For this, she personally discussed with Chief Minister of Odisha and toured Kalinga Stadium and KIIT Stadium to inspect the infrastructure. So she is optimistic about hosting the competition soon.
She expressed satisfaction with the recent success of the National Para Badminton Championships organized by the Para Sports Association of Odisha. She congratulated the participants and thanked the Paralympic Association for its efforts. And also she was optimistic that the State Government and all its associates would be able to support such sports in future.
Around 137 participants from 15 states participated in this sports event. It features competitions such as Sabre, Epee, Foil events. As many as 12 players from Odisha, including ace para athlete from Ganjam V Ramesh Rao are taking part in the competition.
The experienced referees of outside state will administer the event. Markand Reddy, Para Athletics, Odisha, International Medalist Athlete Jayanti Behera, Para Badminton Coach Shiv Prasad Das are felicitated by the guests.
Kamala Kant Rath, President, Para Sports Association of Odisha delivered the welcome address while National wheelchair Fencing President, Mrs. Bela Jaiswal gave vote of thanks. All the officials of the Para Sports Association of Odisha are present in this event.