28/01/2014 … The Multipurpose Indoor Stadium at Peddem transformed itself into Chinese Martial Arts arena as the Lusofonia Games 2014 Wushu competition kicked off today. The form of Chinese Martial Arts which is making its debut at Lusofonia Games this year, saw martial artists from several Luso nations that put in their best.

The preliminary rounds for the two competitive disciplines of Wushu – Taolu and Sanshou were held today.

In Taolu, the athletes were judged on their routines, quality of movements, degree of difficulty and all over performance. Rounds such as Chang Quan, Nan Quan, Taiji Quan, Dao Shu, Nan Gun, Qian Shu, Gun Shu, Dao Shu, Jian Shu, Nan Dao, Taiji Jian were conducted and the participants did their best to impress the judges.

Anjul Namdeo of India left the audience in awe with his airborne techniques which also earned him gold medal in Chang Quan and Jian Shu. India’s other medal prospect, Chirag Sharma also gave an impressive performance and had to be contented with a silver medal in Chang Quan. Another Indian Wushu athlete Shalish won a bronze in Nan Quan. In Mens Dao Shu category, Goa (India)’s Chirag Sharma won a silver medal.

While the Indian Men were busy raking in accolades for their performance in Wushu, the Women engaged themselves in replicating the feat that the Men had achieved. Yumlembam Sapana and Ayapana Ngangom of Goa (India) won Gold and Silver medals respectively in Womens category of Chang Quan and followed it up with a Silver and a Bronze in Womens Gun Shu category.

Goa’ s Valerie Britto impresses the judges with her swift moves in Taiji Quan and took the silver medal home.

While Taolu involves martial art patterns which comprises of basic movements (stances, kicks, punches, balances, jumps, sweeps and throws), Sanshou is a combination of kick, punch and throw where the athlete gets scores in a 2-minute fight. In Sanshou, the first day saw four matches being conducted from the first round.  India’s Mayangalam Bimolji defeated his opponent from Macau, Cai Aolong in the Mens Under 65 kg category. Similarly, Pradeep Kumar from India triumphed over his Portuguese opponent, Vitor Hugo Sousa in the Mens Under 70 kg Category.

The term Wushu is Chinese for martial arts. Wushu is both an exhibition and a full-contact sport derived from traditional martial arts techniques. It was developed in China after 1949, in an effort to standardise the practice of traditional Chinese martial arts.

In contemporary times, Wushu has evolved as a sport through the efforts of the International Wushu Federation  (IWUF), which holds the World Wushu Championships every two years. The first World Championships were held in 1991 in Beijing.

Wushu is one of the nine disciplines included in the Lusofonia Games 2014 presently being held in Goa. Unknown to many, Wushu is practiced by a fair number of athletes. The state is home to six training centres some of which are in Nachinola, Moira, Calangute, Dona Paula and Mapusa. The Goa (India) team includes Wushu competitors from the states of Manipur, Sikkim, Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Goa.Wushu competitions will be held at the Peddem stadium starting 27th January 2014.

28/01-2014 : Angola and Portugal win golds in the Men’s and Women’s 10 kms road race at the Lusofonia Games 2014. 

The race was organized as part of the event on Monday and started from Sharda Mandir school in Miramar to Caranzalem and back to the starting point. 

 In Men’s category, Alexandre from Angola came 1st with a timing of 30:20:19 secs. Francisco Wehunga also from Angola put in a power performance to come second with a timing of 30:21:59 secs, while Euclides Varela came third with a timing of 30:23:14 secs.

26/01/2014:  Mozambique and India continued their impressive run of form yet again, while the Macau women’s team fell prey to their opponents, registering their third consecutive defeat of the tournament.

The opening match of the day featured the women’s team from Macau taking on Angola. Just as in their first two matches, the Macanese women did not challenge enough,  and as a result, lost comprehensively to their African opponents, with the score set at 102-31.

A triumphant Angola Head Coach, Elisa Pires, said, “We expected to walk away with a victory when we got here, to be honest, but certainly by not such a huge margin. I believe that there will be greater tests for us ahead, and we have to prepare for them accordingly.”

The subsequent men’s match between Mozambique and Cape Verde was a close run affair, right to the end, but it was Mozambique’s tenacity that saw them through, right to the end. With several outbursts on the court, and many refereeing decisions being questioned, the final score stood at 67-56.

A content Cesar Mujui, Head Coach of Mozambique, said, “We are through to the semi-final, and top of our group. Realistically, we know it will get tougher from this point, and our opponents will be massive opposition, but we will give it our best.”

The second women’s match of the day, was much anticipated, and saw India take on Mozambique. The physicality of the game was already on the cards, but was never expected to be a pivotal feature of the game. Despite a brilliantly determined and tireless effort from Shreen Limaye with 15 points and 2 assists, India simply could not overcome their African opponents. The final score eventually stood at a surprising 92-46 in favour of Mozambique.

Mozambique Head Coach, Nazir Sale, said, “We were very restricted against Macau and had to play a restricted game, but against India, even though they were stronger, we played with more freedom, and with a greater attacking threat, especially when we were on the counter-attack.”

The big draw of the day was the much anticipated and expected tie between African Angola and the hosts, Goa-India; both fighting for supremacy in the group. Angola, 11 times African champions, and ranked 8th in the world, were touted as favourites, but Scott Flemming’s tactics seemed right on the cards, as the Indian squad managed to come out on top with the final score at 78-75, with mere seconds remaining in the match.

India’s Head Coach, Scott Flemming believes his side was always superior, saying, “We were pushed to the wire, but we prevailed because of our zone play. We played as a team, and that truly made the difference.”

25-01-2014 … The Sri Lankan Men’s team consisting of Wasantha Rathnapala and Mahesh Perera continued their winning streak as they defeated Angola in straight sets. The experienced Lankans took on the Angolan counterparts in the first match of the day on Court 1 as the men from East Timor were struggling to keep up to the highly skilled Portuguese team on Court 2.  While the Lankans had it fairly easy demolishing Angola with 21-16 and 21-14, Portugal had to up the ante and put in a little extra effort to defeat East Timor by 21-15 and 21-19.

 Post the first two matches, the audience was waiting eagerly for the home team to step on the competition court to take on team Angola; oblivious to the bad news that was yet to unfold. The match had to be forfeited, following a serious knee injury to Indian athlete, Kamalan Joseph. Team Goa (India) 2, who was yet to face Guinea Bissau later, started warming up rightaway, knowing that the Indian hopes now lay on their shoulders.

 Following the cancellation of match between Goa (India) 2 and Angola 1, the match between Macau (China) and Sao Tome & Principe was then shifted to Court 1, instead of Court 2.Sao Tome & Principe started on an aggressive note winning the first set by 21-7. Team Macau (China) bounced back with vengeance and crushed their opponents by 21-12 to win the second set. However, the Macau athletes were left gasping for breath as a close encounter in the third set forced them to bow down to Sao Tome & Principe as the latter team won the deciding set by 15-13.

 The perfectly tuned team of Pralhad Dhawasker and Anil Shirodkar were welcomed with a loud cheer from the spectator stands as they were ready to take on team Guinea Bissau on Court 1. Right from the beginning, the relatively inexperienced team from Guinea Bissau took some hammering from the experience Goan duo. After toying around with their opponents for around 30 mins, team Goa (India) put the final nail in the coffin and won the match by 5-21 and 6-21.

 While Indian men roared on Court 1, Indian women were seen struggling to match their Portuguese counterparts. Joana Vasconcelos and Raquel Lacerda of Portugal took advantage of the relatively lesser experienced Indian team consisting of Maheswari  Jayaraman and Veera Venkata Sanhti Devi Karri and defeated them comfortably in straight sets – 21-9, 21-12. The morning session ended with five matches being played.

25-01-2014:  While all eyes were on the India women’s basketball squad in the second tie of the day, in the background, African teams excelled for the second consecutive day.

The first match of the day was that between the men’s team from Macau and Mozambique. Just as the women did on the first day, the African men annihilated their Asian counterparts. Macau started the first quarter off in fine fashion, but before long, their opponents had caught on to their game-play, and the eventual result stood at 29-9. At the game’s end the result stood at 100-34 in favour of Mozambique.

Looking forward to the next match Mozambique ‘s Coach, Cesar Mujui, said, “I felt that today, perhaps some aspects of our game needed sharpening. This is especially true of our defense. I think that by the second fixture this would be sorted out.”

The Captain of the team, Luis de Barros pointed out to the next opponent’s strengths saying, “Macau weren’t strong physically, and as such, we overcame them today, but this will be more difficult to ascertain against Cape Verde.”

Macau’s official spoke on the day’s events, with the Head Coach, Wong Keng Long, addressing obvious flaws, “It is always difficult to go up against strong opposition, but today, we were much sharper than in our first game. This experience will help us develop for the future.”

Captain Seng Leon Chi said, “We have much work to do, if we are to improve. We are in a nascent stage still, as a squad, but the experience in itself will help us grow.”

The women’s match of the day, saw India take on Macau, with a thoroughly one-sided beating on the cards for the Macanese. With stellar performances from every player to grace the court, India wrapped up a comprehensive victory at 110-45.

Indian Head Coach, Francisco Garcia, said, “There are areas that need a fair amount of tweaking and developing. We will address these before the next game. I think that we were found wanting defensively, but our offense speaks for itself through the end score.”

The Captain, Jeena PS, was in agreement, “We realised that we had the upper hand, and then we pushed on. It was interesting for us, because we aren’t yet a fully fledged team. There are many youth players in the squad, and I hope that we can play just as well against Mozambique, who will be physically superior.”

Macau’s Captain amicably discussed the events that unfolded, saying, “Everyone knows that Goa-India are favourites to win the tournament. There is no harm in losing to them. We have had an excellent time here in Goa despite having lost both games.”

Head Coach Wong Hong Tok, added, “The game was very difficult for us. The Goa-India team were not too difficult to deal with physically, but threatened us with constant press play and attack at all times.”

The big African contest, that saw plenty of tension, was between the men’s squads from Angola and Guinea Bissau. The match saw plenty of physicality, with the end result being that several of the advertising boards were turned into victims of the physical aggression.

Through sheer determination and a constant flow in attack, Angola began to build a constant and steady rhythm which ensured that a close match eventually tilted in their favour with the score at 83-46.

At the end of the game, Angolan Head Coach, Manuel Sousa said, “Considering that we have only one first team player with previous exposure and the rest is the generation that people tout to be record breakers, the result was stupendous. I think that there might have been a few calls that we felt might have gone our way, technically. However, the result and performance is what counts.”

His Captain, Hermeniecanldo Santos, added, “It was a good game. We were pushed until half-time. From there on we built momentum, and we nailed the game.”

His counterpart, Florentino Lopes Rodrigues, discussing the result, said, “This is a great beginning for us. We have learnt much from this trip, and are looking to develop further from it, especially with club exposure.”

25-01-2014 … With 40 medals at stake, Judo was always expected to provide a lot of fizz for the Lusofonia Games 2014.

Seven countries battled it out to pick the maximum medals in the 12-category Judoka games at the Peddem multi-purpose indoor stadium.

 The participating countries saw seasoned veterans as an independent segment in their respective contingents which stepped into the Judoka arena, facing each other for a place in the following categories: 60kg, -66kg, -73kg, -81kg, -90kg, -100kg, +100kg, -48kg, -52kg, -57kg, -63kg, -70kg & -78kg.

 Portugal took away the honours in this discipline, winning six medals in the Men’s section (inclusive of five Golds and one Silver), while seven Portuguese judokas managed to clinch medals (three golds, two bronze, two silver). 

The performance of the Indian squad was impressive too. Indian judokas won 8 medals overall with 2 Gold, 2 Silver and 4 Bronze medals.A powerful performance by Kalpana Devi got her the Gold in the 52kg category and the mighty Avtar Singh won Gold in the 100kg category.

25-01-2014 … Panaji: Team Goa-India won a whopping 14 medals, including four golds, in the prestigious track and field events held at the on Friday as part of the Lusofonia Games 2014.

24/01/2014 .The second day of sporting action on the sands of Miramar Beach had a surprise in store for sports enthusiasts. In addition to the existing main competition court, another court was thrown open for matches to be played. This decision was welcomed with a loud cheer from the audience stands as this meant that more matches could be played in lesser time.

The spectators were waiting with bated breath for the first match to start on the main competition court. The match featured Goa’s favourite Beach Volleyball players, Pralhad Dhawasker and Anil Shirodkar and Angola’s Hildebrando Bastos and Gerson Da Silva Leitao.

Within few minutes of the commencement of the match, it was clear that the Goan duo was in no mood to take things easy. They continued their winning streak by dominating yet again and demolished the Angolan defence by 21-14 and 21-13. 

While the Goan athletes were busy shattering the dreams of Angola, simultaneously, the women’s team from Cape Verde was engaged in toying with the women’s team of Angola. 

The duo did not waste much time and won comfortably in two straight sets, 21-18 and 21-6. The next match that followed, between Sao Tome and Principe and Guinea Bissau, was an exhibition of raw energy. Amidst power smashes and frantic dives, both the teams battled it out to outplay their opponent. Finally, Guinea Bissau had to bow down to Sao Tome and Principe, and lost by 11-21, 17-21. 

It was then time for sisters representing Goa (India), Danish Dias and Christie Dias to take on their Sri Lankan counterparts, Siriwardana and Nirosha Lakmini Gunasinghe.

The first set of this supremely entertaining battle for supremacy lasted for around 20 minutes, by the end of which the Lankans had got the better of their opponents and won the set by 21-11. Goa (India) bounced back in the next set and took a quick lead, only to let go of some scoring opportunities before losing the lead. In the race to finish first, both the teams reached the mark of 21 points. The Lankans, however, didn’t take much time to up their game and won the second set too by 23-21.

The action on Court 2 continued as the Men’s team from East Timor competed with Angola. The quick paced game involved long rallies which made it clear that neither team was ready to let go. The team from Angola played intelligently and let their brains compete with sheer brawn of East Timor. After defeating their opponents in the first set by 19-21, Angola quickly wrapped up the second set, winning it by 15-21.

The last match of the morning session, the one between Cape Verde and Macau proved to be a one-sided affair as the former team triumphed over the latter, in quick succession. The Macau team had to face defeat by 6-21 and 14-21 to close the morning session of Beach Volleyball action on Day 2 at Miramar Beach. 

24/01/2014 : While India fumbled in their first basketball tie at the Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium in Taleigao, African countries Mozambique and Cape Verde triumphed over their Macanese opponents; and how.

The opening game of the sporting discipline saw Cape Verde take on Macau in the men’s match. The African team hit the ground running and squeezed any hope that Macau might have had of recovery by the end of the first quarter, with the scores notched at 28-3 in favour of Cape Verde. The final result was anything but flattering for Macau, with Cape Verde winning by a comfortable margin, at 96-46.

 Cape Verde’s Coach, Antonio Tavares, said, “There is much that the side can take away from this game. We might have dominated, but there are several aspects of our game that we can improve on. All in all, a satisfactory result, because there are a couple of senior players in the side, but the bulk of the team is made up of a youth squad.”  The Captain of Cape Verde, Elizandro Rodrigues, said, “Granted that we were a more physical side, but we still have Mozambique to play, and that, I believe, will be a true test of our mettle.”

 The officials from Macau assessed their performance, with the Head Coach, Wong Hong Tok, commenting, “We have come here, as a squad that hasn’t completely been tested. In Macau, sports, especially basketball, is a side profession. As such, players get less time for skill development as compared to countries that are more supportive. We have a couple of players here who have never played for the national squad before. So all in all, I think that this was a commendable effort.”

 Macau Captain, Hang Kan Wai, said, “I think that the game was pretty much lost for us, shortly after its onset. We struggled to get our footing, and after we had given up that big a lead, the team was dejected. I hope that from this point on, we can improve.” The women’s match, saw Mozambique battle the Macau female team, though the one-sided nature of the affair can scarcely be called a battle. The Asian women’s team stumbled just as their male counterparts did, and were torn apart by the Africans with the final score being registered at 111-29.

 Mozambican Head Coach, Nazir Sale, said, “We will take one game at a time. We can afford to get too buoyed by our victory. There are still other matches to be played, and we should not get too ambitious, but I aim to do my very best, and if other results go our way like this one did, we have everything to look forward to.” The Captain, Deolinda Ngulela, concurred saying, “We found that it was easy for us to get into a rhythm in a short span of time. Once we discovered that initial flow, it was easy enough for us to dominate with our physicality. I hope to put on a similar performance for the remainder of the tournament.”

 Macau’s Captain agreed with the summary of her counterpart, saying, “We were dominated by our opponents, more by our sheer lack of experience than our ability, but once we were found out, there was no chance for us to get back into the game. Having said that, even though we lost today, the entire experience for us, right up to this point, has been superb.” The Asian team’s Head Coach, Wong Hong Iok, added, “We struggled today in terms of experience. That was evident, but I aspire to do better for the remainder of the tournament. As we grow in exposure, we will do so too in terms of quality of performance.”

 The much anticipated final match of the day, that drew spectators in droves, was between the men’s squads from Goa-India and Guinea Bissau. The match took off at a frenetic pace and neither team played with anything less than a 110%. However, in what was a completely physically dominated encounter, it was Goa-India that surged ahead at the start of the match through an inspired performance with the first quarter score set at 19-9.

 Building a steady rhythm through to the second quarter, and then the remainder of the tie, it was Goa-India that eventually came out on top, with the score at 82-48.On the victory, Indian Head Coach, Scott Flemming said, “We had to deal with a team that tested our limits. It’s a great start to the tournament. We are, obviously, going to attempt to our very best to win a Gold Medal at this event, but we must take everything one phase at a time.” The leader of his troops, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, added, “Personally, it was a great win for the team. To an extent, I feel I could do better personally, but there are always ups and downs. From a collective point of view though, great effort all round.”

Flemming’s opposing partner, Floraintionio Lopes Rodrigues, discussing the result, said, “It’s quite obvious that our strategies here just did not work today. We had this belief that our plan to combat Goa-India’s game-play would work, but we suffered because of their height advantage.”