Odisha bagged six medals in the KAI Sub-junior, Cadet & Junior National Karate Championship, which was held at Talkatora Indoor Stadium in New Delhi from May 20 to 22, 2016. The medals included one gold and five bronze.

International Payal Baral was most successful Odisha competitor, winning one gold in junior kata and one bronze in junior fight. Sanket Nayak and Anshupriya Singh claimed one bronze each in junior boys’ kata and sub-junior girls’ kata categories respectively.

Commonwealth champion Avishek Pattnaik pocketed one bronze in boys’ 18-20 year category, while Suman Sekhar Das secured one bronze in sub-junior fight category. As many as 21 karatekas represented Odisha in this three-day championship.

ODISHA SQUAD: Ritesh Mohanty, APS Singh, Jyoti Ranjan Nayak, Bonali Das, Satyam Mohanty, Hrushikesh Mansingh, Adyasha Samantara, Anuska Priyadarshini, Suman Sekhar Das, Anshuman Behera, Sanket Kumar Nayak, Debasmita Dalabehera, D Bhagaban Reddy, Ritesh Ray, Payal Baral, Udit Uddam, Sakia Parbin, Dillip Kumar Behera, Biswaranjan, Nirupama Behera, Aradhana Behera. Coaches: Deepak Kumar Samantara, Dilip Kumar Jena; Manager: Abinash Pundir. Referees: Rajib Singh, Mahesh Chandra Baral, Arabinda Barik, Jitendra Prasad.
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PHOTO: Odisha karatekas (L to R) Sanket Nayak, Anshupriya Singh and Payal Baral with their medals in Delhi on May 20, 2016.