Odisha bagged six medals in the Senior National Benchpress Championship which was held at Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh from February 23 to 26. Medals included one gold, two silver and three bronze.

Gangadhar Bisoi won the gold in the Master-I (95kg) uneqipped category, lifting 147kg. He also grabbed a silver in the equipped category with a lift of 165kg. Other medallist (all unequipped) included Samarendra Routray (silver in sub-junior 74kg category, lifted 125kg), Nilakantha Pradhan (bronze in senior 120kg category, lifted 175kg), Ramesh Chandra Bidika (bronze in Master-I 59kg category, lifted 75kg), Chandra Mohan Bisoi (silver in Master-III 74kg category, lifted 62kg) and Uma Chandra Bisoi (bronze in Master-III 74kg category, lifted 72kg).

Debutant Nilakantha Pradhan, however, rued that due to his miscalculation he had to settle with the bronze. ``Earlier in the State championship I established a new record, while competing in 105kg weight category. But in the National championship I was forced to compete in the 120kg category. It was my fault because I had put on 1.5kg weight in the meantime,`` he explained.

The Bhubaneswar lifter, however, vowed to make amend of his mistake in the next National meet. ``I made the mistake due to lack of experience. But next time I will try to win gold for my state,`` he said.
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PHOTO: Bronze medallist Nilakantha Pradhan