Bhubaneswar, Oct 14: International Chess player Debasis Das won of the prestigious ‘Ekalabya Puraskar' for 2012 in recognition of his outstanding performance in sports.
Instituted in 1993 by Indian Metals Public Charitable Trust (IMPaCT), the award carries a cash prize of Rs two lakh. Well known athlete Shrabani Nanda and weight-lifter Pramila Krisani were declared citation winners which carried a cash prize of Rs 50,000 each, a release from IMPaCT said.
The award is given every year to young sports persons in Odisha in recognition of their outstanding performance in the preceding two years.
Das, the second youngest international master of Odisha, had a brilliant national and international track record with a bronze medal at the World Youth Championship held in Caldas Novas (Brazil) in November 2010 and gold medal as member of the gold winning team at the World Youth (Under-18) World Chess Championship 2010 in Beijing.
Shrabani had won bronze medal in the in the 4x100 meters relay at 9th Commonwealth Games in October 2010 in New Delhi while Pramila had bagged the silver medal in 53 kg category in the 13th Asian Youth Weightlifting Championship in September 2011 in Thailand.
