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 2nd 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.