Odisha made basketball history by booking men’s Level-1 berth for the first time, scripting five successive wins in the 67th Senior National Championship, which was held at R G Indoor Stadium in Puducherry from January 7.

Competing in Level-2, Odisha won all four of their Pool-E league matches, defeating Jammu & Kashmir, Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. They followed their impressive pool league performance with a thumping 91-54 win over Pool-D toppers and host Puducherry to qualify for Level-1. But their impressive campaign came to an end in the knock-out (pre-quarterfinal) round when they lost to Haryana 63-73.

Odisha women also dished out outstanding performance in Level-2, winning both of their Pool-F matches against Puducherry and Andhra Pradesh. But they missed the Level-1 berth by losing to Karnataka 24-48 in the qualifying match. Odisha women concluded their campaign with a 43-69 defeat at the hands of Rajasthan.

ODISHA TEAMS:
MEN: Ashis Ranjan Behera, K Sravan Kumar, Lagnajeet Barik, Shaik Aftabuddin, Alex Lakra, Sashikanta Mohanty, Sahid Khan, Suman Kumar Sahoo, Siba Sankar Behera, Laxmi Nrusingha Patnaik, Ashok Kumar Nayak, Rudra Kanta Sahoo. Coaches: Prasanta Kumar Tarai, Dillip Kumar Parida.

WOMEN: Padmabati Hati, Urbasi Mallik, Jayashree Swain, Sibani Naik, Sarmistha Panda, Deepti Rani Sahu, Jayashree Baskey, Sushree Sangita Rout, Suvanki Sahoo, Saraswati Behera, Athren Kujur, Puspanjali Pradhan. Coaches: Smarita Samantaray, Prasant Kumar Nayak. Manager: Saudamini Swain.

ODISHA RESULTS:
Women (Level-2):
Jan 7: Odisha (J Bakshy 23, S Panda 18) bt Puducherry (Manjula 9) 61-24 (25-8, 21-5, 9-9, 6-2).
Jan 10: Odisha (Rajshree 14, Jayashree 14, Urvasi 12) bt Andhra Pradesh (BPS Jyothi 10, P. Lakshmi 8) 52-32 (13-10, 8-16, 17-0, 14-6).
Jan 11 (Level 2 to Level 1 Qualifier): Karnataka (Bhoomika P 16, Supritha CN 11, Priyanka P 10) bt Odisha (Rajashree Swain 10) 48-24 (14-9, 12-4, 14-2, 8-8).
Jan 11: Rajasthan (Vinod Kumar 25, Bharatdeep Singh 20) bt Odisha (K. Sravan Kumar 14, Sahid Khan 9) 69-43 (25-19, 19-4, 20-9, 5-11).

Men (Level-2):
Jan 8: Odisha (Ashok Nayak 20, K Sravan Kumar 18) bt Jammu & Kashmir (Ranbir Singh 18, Amanjot Singh 15) 72-61 (21-11, 22-13, 14-9, 15-28).
Jan 8: Odisha (SS Behera 28, AK Nayak 20, Sahid Khan 12, K. Sarvan Kumar 10) bt Maharashtra (Sanket K 26, Nikhil Atre 18) 76-75 (23-14, 27-15, 10-15, 16-31).
Jan 9: Odisha (Sheikh Aftab 23, RK Sahu 15) bt Arunachal Pradesh (Himanshu 14) 63-33 (12-2, 13-11, 12-9, 26-11).
Jan 10: Odisha (K Sravan Kumar 20, Sahid Khan 18, Sashikanta Mohanty 13, Ashok Kumar Nayak 13) bt Uttar Pradesh (Atal Rai 18, Bhagyansh Gulati 18) 74-54 (19-11, 21-10, 17-16, 17-17).
Jan 11 (Level 2 to Level 1 Qualifier): Odisha (Ashok Kumar Nayak 19, Siba Sankar Behera 17, K. Sravan Kumar 14) bt Puducherry (Poovana 16, Hari 13) 91-54 (24-16, 22-16, 23-9, 22-13).
Jan 12 (PQF): Haryana (Vikas Kumar 19, Pardeep Chauhan 17) bt Odisha (Ashok Kumar Nayak 21, Sahid Khan 12) 73-63 (18-20, 21-24, 22-8, 12-11).
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PHOTO: Players and officials of Odisha men`s team pose for the Senior National Championship.