SAI rowing coach Jose Jacob and football coach Nanda Kishore Patnaik were honoured with the Kamal Ganguly Memorial Coach of the Year Award for the years 2013 and 2014 respectively in a function at Saheed Sporting Club ground here today.
Jacob, who bagged the Dronacharya Award earlier this year, has the reputation of grooming scores of national international rowers at SAI Watersports Centre in Jagatpur, Cuttack. Self-made football coach Patnaik is well-known for shaping the careers of a number of woman footballers, including former India captain Sradhanjali Samantaray.
The award, which was instituted by city-based premier cricke club Saheed Sporting in the year 2012, carried a citation, memento and a purse of Rs 15,000. Eminent cricket coach Kishore Mania had bagged the award in 2012.
Saheed Sporting also introduced a Life-time Achievement Award, which was conferred on former Odisha Ranji team captain and retired bureaucrat Madan Mohanty Mohanty. The club felicitated eight its past and current players for achieving notable success this year. They included Debasis Mohanty, Rashmi Ranjan Parida, Preetamjeet Das, Manoj Biswal, Rakesh Patnaik, Uditanshu Parida, Seikh Salam and Jyoti Ranjan Behera.
Bhubaneswar Central MLA Bijay Kumar Mohanty, former India woman football captain Sradhanjali Samantaray, local corporator Saswati Mishra and Saheed Sporting secretary Pankaj Patnaik were present in the function.
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PHOTO: Recipients of Kamal Ganguly Award (L to R) Jose Jacob, Nanda Kishore Patnaik and Madan Mohanty Mohanty in Bhubaneswar on Nov 30, 2014.