‘Hum Honge Kamyaab’ inspired me on the track; Olympian Anuradha Biwal

Bhubaneswar, Feb. 13: “Hum Honge Kamyaab”, the hindi adaptation of famous “We Shall Overcome” which became the rallying cry of the civil rights movement in the US, was the source of inspiration for Olympian Anuradha Biswal, as she sizzled the tracks across the globe. “It was my anthem from which I drew inspiration before every competition,” Biswal, who holds the national record of 13.38 seconds for 100 metre hurdles set at the National Circuit meet held at Delhi in 2002, said at the SOA Deemed to be University on Wednesday. She had earlier clocked 13.40 seconds at the Asian Athletic Championship at Jakarta in 2000. Biswal, who was speaking as the chief guest at the closing function of the month-long SOA Cup in which students of nine constituent institutions under the SOA Deemed to be University competed in 13 sporting disciplines, led the students in singing the song and exhorted them to excel in sports. “You can achieve anything if you have a fixed goal and determination to reach there,” she said. SOA’s Vice-Chancellor in-charge Prof. S.C. Si, Dean (Students Welfare) Prof. J.R.Das, Sports Officer Ms. Sunita Barma and Junior Sports Officer Mr. Priyam Mallick also spoke on the occasion. The competitions involved athletics, badminton, basketball, chess, cricket, football, kabaddi, softball, table tennis, tennis, throw ball, volleyball and best physique. Students from the Institute of Business and Computer Studies (IBCS), Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS), Institute of Dental Sciences (IDS), School of Hotel Management (SHM), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (SPS), SOA National Institute of Law (SNIL), Institute of Agricultural Sciences (IAS), SUM Nursing College (SNC) and different departments of Institute of Technical Education and Research (ITER) participated in the events. SUM Nursing College emerged as the overall champions while IBCS won the title in the men’s cricket defeating Department of Computer Science and Information Technology (CSIT) by nine wickets. In the women’s final, SNC defeated IMS by 13 runs to claim the title. Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) won the football final defeating Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME) 3-2 in a penalty shoot-out after the match ended goalless.  In athletics, Ashutosh Sahoo (ITER) was adjudged the best athlete (men) while Soloni Das won the best athlete crown for women.