OSJA Samikshya Patnaik felicitates chess queen Padmini Rout in Bhubaneswar on Sept 17, 2016.

Sports Journalists’ Federation of India (SJFI) and Bangalore won the basketball free-throw and football shoot-out titles in respectively in the 39th SJFI National Convention at KIIT University here today. SJFI beat Bangalore in the football final, while Bangalore avenged the defeat by getting the better of SJFI in basketball summit clash.

Host Odisha Sports Journalists’ Association (OSJA) finished third in both the events. The OSJA football team, comprising Gyana Ranjan Mishra, Fazal Ali and Mohammad Abdul Aziz beat Tripura in the play-off match after going down in the semifinals. The OSJA basketball team was represented by Sangram Lenka, Abdul Aziz and Gyana Ranjan Mishra.

The fourth and penultimate day of the National Convention was full of fun and entertainment, ending with dance and music programme at Hotel Mayfair Convention. Odisha chess queen Padmini Rout was felicitated on the occasion by OSJA.

Meanwhile, former India sprint queen P T Usha arrived here with her husband and she will be one of the two sports icons for the closing function of the National Convention, the other being cuesport maestro Geet Sethi.