Bhubaneswar: Nanda Kishore Patnaik, Odisha’s renowned football coach, succumbed to COVID-19 at a private hospital here in the wee hours of Tuesday, family sources said. He was 65.
After testing positive for the virus, Patnaik was admitted to the hospital and undergoing treatment there. He breathed his last during treatment, around 3 AM.
Born on March 16, 1956 in Baripada, Patnaik had represented Odisha twice in Junior Football Championship in 1977 and 1978.
He took to coaching in 1992-93 and started training women footballers in 1995. He also served as the coach of Odisha Women’s Football Team, several times. He groomed international women footballers including Sradhanjali Samantaray, Ranjita Mohanty, Prasanti Pradhan, Sudipta Dash, Sarita Jayanti Behera, Mamali Das and Prathama Priyadarshini.
