Bhubaneswar, Sept. 16: A senior professor of Siksha ‘O’
Anusandhan Deemed to be University (SOA) has been chosen to
represent the Indian team in the 2 nd Asia Pacific International Gateball
Championship to be held at Taoyuan, Taiwan, next month.
Prof. Pradeep Kumar Sahoo, presently Dean of Institute of
Technical Education and Research (ITER), SOA’s faculty of engineering
and technology, has found place in the 7-member team selected by the
Indian Gateball Union.
The tournament, comprising classic, triples and doubles events,
will be held at Taoyuan from October 4 to 7 next. “It will be an exciting
tournament and it is a moment of pride for me to represent the
country in an international tournament,” the 64-year-old professor in
Civil Engineering, said.
The other members of the team are Ranjan Kumar Patra
(Captain), Umakanta Pani, Sarat Kumar Patra, Dilip Kumar Sarangi,
Sarbeswar Brahmananda Mahapatra and Dwaipayan Pattanaik who will
don the mantle of Manager cum Player.
Gateball is a sport which was inspired by Croquet. It is a fast
paced, non-contact, highly strategic team game which can be played by
anyone regardless of age or gender. The sport is extremely popular in
Japan, China, Indonesia, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand and Taiwan.