Rourkela, Jan 29: The three-day-long All India Inter NIT Sports Meet 2024 from January 26-28, 2024 saw the enthralling and incredible matches of Swimming (M & W), Lawn Tennis (M & W), Football (W) and Cricket (W).

A total of 225 female and 125 male students representing 17 NITs participated in this tournament. Inaugurated on 26.01.2024, this tournament was organised by the Games and Sports Society under the Student Activity Centre (SAC), NIT Rourkela. 

Prof. K. Umamaheshwar Rao (Director, NIT Rourkela) addressed the participants and said, “Sports contribute to both physical and mental well-being, making them essential in life. This kind of tournament is crucial to promote sports among peers, and fostering a culture of enjoyment, discipline, perseverance, sportsmanship, and teamwork. I congratulate each player for exerting their utmost effort on the field. Let's collectively highlight the significance of maintaining fitness and health in our communities through the essence of sports.”

Joining the closing ceremony, Prof. Sidhartha S. Jena (Dean of Student Welfare) said, “NIT Rourkela takes pride in embracing a future of equal opportunities. We have embarked on this historic journey of hosting the first-ever tournaments for women in both football and cricket under the All India Inter NIT Sports Tournaments. To all the participating teams and players, I commend your dedication, hard work, and commitment to the game. I hope you all had a memorable journey at the NITR Campus.”

NIT Rourkela is the winner of Football (women); Neharika Singh from NITR became the 'Player of the Tournament.’ The Cricket (women) Championship is won by NIT Jalandhar; Vandana Sah becomes the 'Player of the Tournament.’ Plavita Baruah from NIT Rourkela won the title of ‘Swimmer of the Tournament (women)’ for scoring 1st place in Swimming 100 m Freestyle, 100 m Backstroke (women) and 50 m in Butterfly (women) category. Abhishek Baruah from NIT Silchar won the ‘Swimmer of the Tournament (men)’ title.  Additionally, the Long Tennis (women) Champions trophy is bagged by VNIT Nagpur; and the Lawn Tennis (men) winner title is scored by SVNIT Surat.

Prof. Rohan Dhiman (Registrar), and Prof Binod Bihari Sahu (SAC president in-charge) also joined the valedictory session to award the winning teams and participants. Prof. Ramesh Kumar Mohapatra, Dr Mayank Yadav (Vice Presidents of Games and Sports Society), and SAC Sports Officer Dr. Tushar R Pattnaik organised the entire sports event. The event concluded with the prize distribution ceremony and felicitating the Observer of the All India inter-NIT tournament, Dr. S Babu from NIT Puducherry. 

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17 teams i.e., NIT Calicut, SVNIT Surat, NIT Raipur, NIT Agartala, MNIT Jaipur, NIT Durgapur, NIT Andhra Pradesh, NIT Delhi, NIT Uttarakhand, NIT Jalandhar, NIT Silchar, VNIT Nagpur, NITK Surathkal, NIT Warangal, NIT Tiruchirappalli, NIT Jamshedpur and NIT Rourkela are the participating institutions in this tournament.