Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday dedicated five High Performance Centres to sportspersons of the State for nurturing excellence across sporting disciplines like badminton, athletics, weightlifting and football at the Kalinga Stadium here in the presence of sports legends like Anil Kumble.
Patnaik said with the opening of these centre Odisha further cemented its place as new sports capital of India.
The High Performance centres are Dalmia Bharat Gopichand Badmiton Academy, Ahluwalia-Tenvic High Performance Centre on Weightlifting, Footbal by JSW Sports Bengaluru FC and Xavier-Emlyon-Ahluwalia Centre of Excellence in Sports Management.
On the occasion, the Chief Minister also presented cash awards to at least 162 sportspersons who bought accolades for the State in various national and international events, including Pramod Bhagat (Para Badminton), Jayanti Behera (Para Athletics), Prachurya Kumar Pradhan and Soundarya Kumar Pradhan (Blind Chess).
Besides, the Chief Minister also inaugurated Sports Climbing Wall at Kalinga Stadium Complex aimed at imparting excellence in sports climbing to Odisha’s youth.
