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.”

23-01-2014 …  Chief Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar, laid the Foundation Stone for the  construction of  the proposed Rs. 17.75 Crores New Bus Stand in the distinguished presence of Minister for  Transport Shri Sudin Dhavalikar and Minister for Co-operation Shri Pandurang Dhavalikar at Marcel yesterday.

  The work of the complex will be executed under GSIDC and is expected to be completed in 18 months. Besides Bus Stand the project will have provision for construction of Market, Multipurpose Hall, Library, Government offices such as Post office, Panchayat Ghar etc.

 Speaking on the occasion the Chief Minister stressed the need for better Consultant, Contractor  and availability  of adequate  finance for execution and  completion of developmental  works in stipulated  time period. In this context,  he referred to the construction of Calvim bridge  and the infrastructure created for the ongoing  Lusofonia  games in Goa. He said, during last six months the pace of development in Goa  has been accelerated and that the Government has fulfilled almost  all the assurances given to the people of the state. He assured that the construction of Bus Stand at Marcel  will be completed in one year.

  Minister for Transport Shri Sudin Dhavlikar in his address emphasized  the need to conserve and make Judicious  use of water which is being supplied to the people of Goa at cheaper  rate. He  said, all efforts are being made to provide 24×7 water supply to the people  of the state by 2016. The water supply problem at Marcel and its surrounding  areas will also be solved after the construction of Rs. 110 Crores 25 MLD project at Ganje-Usgao the work of which will be taken up within 15 days.

Shri Dhavalikar said efforts are already been initiated to have Transport Management System  in Ponda and that works to the tune of Rs. 450 Crores have been tendered  for construction of  roads in the state.

Co-operation Minister Shri Pandurang Dhavalikar expressed happiness  over the construction  of Bus Stand which he said was a long pending demand of the people. He listed the ongoing works and the works to be taken up such as construction of college at Khandola, New Power  Sub Station, Market at Banastari among other works.  He further informed that the roads in Marcel areas will be hot mixed incurring an expenditure of Rs. 16 Crores.

  Smt. Nirmala Sawant, Former Minister spoke  on the occasion.

Shri Gokuldas Naik, ZP  member and Smt. Bhavana Naik,  Sarpanch Betki Khandola were presence.

Shri Arun Dessai, Director of Transport welcomed and Shri Francis Lobo Sarpanch Tivrem orgao Proposed  the vote  of thanks.

23-01-2014 … An own Goan sealed the Goa-India football team’s fate against Mozambique despite a crowd ferociously egging the home team to win right from the time they hit the Tilak Maidan turf wearing their new yellow Kit.

The home team started the game with a bang and created multiple chances in the first 10 minutes. Brandon Fernandes displayed great prowess with his set piece play.

Mozambique even missed a penalty in the first half, but were gifted an own goal in the second half which was enough for them to win the match 1-0.

The win also brought Mozambique on level with India in Group B standing. Group leaders were then decided through a system of draw.

India was drawn as the group winner and will play the runner up team from Group A that will be decided tomorrow after the match between Sao Tome and Macau.

Speaking in the post match press conference, Mr. Francisco Neto, Head Coach, Team Goa-India, said, “I’m happy with my Team’s performance today. They created many chances and their set piece game was good. In the last edition, we conceded 18 goals and scored only 2 and now we are serious contenders. I’m proud of the boys and I hope Goa is also proud of them.”

When asked about the fans at the stadium and their chants, the delighted winning Coach, Augusto Matine, said, “We like the crowd and take their chants in a good spirit. It’s a big advantage for the home team but it also helps my team to learn and build spirit of competition in the game.”

23-01-2014 … Timing pre-poned to accommodate Republic Day eve Presidential Address~

Goa: The much awaited football semi-finals and finals of the Lusofonia Games 2014 will be held at the newly renovated Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru stadium at Fatorda, Margao.The first semi-final match which was scheduled to be held at 5.30pm on 25^th January 2014 has however been pre-poned by an hour to 4.30 pm.

The football semi-finals and final are scheduled to be telecast on DD Sports throughout its extensive network.

The timing has been adjusted to accommodate the Republic Day eve Presidential address to the nation which is also scheduled on January 25.The kick-off for the January 25 semi-final match will now be held at 4.30 pm sharp. The decision has been suggested by the concerned technical delegate in consultation with the Competition Manager.

23-01-2014 … One medal isn’t enough for the outperforming dynamic Indian super squad. After the men battled against each other for the ‘Men’s doubles Bronze Medal’, an hour later the women found themselves fighting it out for the ‘Women’s Singles Gold’ title.

 It was a neck to neck game with both players determined to bag the Gold. Madhurika won the first set with a fierce motive. Self motivated and gushing with aggression Madhurika played with great intensity and skill. Shamini as her stature and game plan was composed and focused throughout. The match came down to a clenching nail biter as Shamini fought back with consistency in the last set beating her team mate with a final score of  4 – 2.

 Final score: 

5 – 11

11 – 5

11 – 7

5 – 11

11 – 7

11 – 3

 Madhurika Patkar and Shamini Kumaresan have represented India in the most prestigious championships in the world. Shamini had led the women’s squad in the Commonwealth Games 2010.

 Addressing the upcoming stars in India, The women’s singles champion Shamini said; “Work hard, give it all that you have and once you get to play for the country, you should play for the country more than yourself. Keep trying and don’t quit easily”. Inspiring and motivating words from the Gold medalist were absorbed with gratitude by the Indian youngsters.

 Honoured and proud to play for her country, Shamini Kumaresan said, “Table tennis is all about focus and concentration and i did that today. I aspire to be the best someday and be number one in India as well. I loved the support from the crowd. It was truly incredible, especially yesterday for the team matches. Hearing them cheer I felt like I had to play for THEM (India).

 When asked about her frame of mind and strategy while playing crucial games, Shamini said, “While playing table tennis you’re either in the composed or excited zone and if you’re excited it’s very difficult to get into the composed zone.  So it’s very important to maintain composure during the game.’

~

22-01-14: Sri Lanka on Tuesday became the first team to go through to the Semi Finals from Group A, thanks to a late equalizing goal by  Mohamed Zarwan Johar in the 91st minute.

Sao Tome and Principe dominated most of the game even as Sri Lanka weren’t able to score despite creating many chances for themselves.

Sri Lankan captain and goalkeeper Wstd Sujan Periera was put to the test over and over again and was forced to make some excellent saves throughout the game. But his goal was breached in the 29th minute by Sao Tome and Principe player Gastao Bastos in the 29th minute. They held on to the lead through full time, until the Mohamed Zarwan Johar late equalizer.

Speaking during the post-match press conference, Sri Lankan manager, Mr. Hasitha D. Gamage, said, “The players played very hard throughout the match and we are happy about the result.”

Sri Lankan goal scorer Zarwan added, “I’m a very young player and the extra time goal has taken us through to the semifinals. I’m very happy that I contributed to the team.”

 Sao Tome Coach/ Manager, Mr. Osualdo Deus Lima, said, “Nothing is lost yet and we will work hard to win against Macau. Our main objective now is to qualify for the next phase.”

22-01-14::  What was touted by most punters to have been a walk-in-the-park victory for the Indian volleyball squads, turned out to be anything but, as they fought tooth and nail in the final match day of the round robin tournament.

The women’s match, saw Mozambique battle the hosts every step of the way, trading point for point, before India finally clinched Round 1 with a score of 25-20, After a frenetic exchange at the beginning of Round 2, India surged ahead, and eventually saw the score end at 25-12, The score from Round 3 was 25-14

At the end of the proceedings, the Captain of the India team, Melinda Pereira, said, “Primarily, we have to thank God above all else. We also need to thank Mozambique, for a fantastic performance that really pushed us to the maximum of our abilities. We had a great run out, on all fronts, and it has been a fantastic performance for us.”

Head Coach, R.P Tailor, concurred with his Captain, saying, “I agree wholeheartedly that we needed to put out our best performance today, and at times, we were severely tested. But right from our service to blocking, we excelled overall, and as such, eventually prevailed.”

Amilton De Barros, the Head-Coach of Mozambique, said, “What you witnessed in the first set, was the true potential of this team. As a coach, all I can do is impart training. Beyond that, we have no control over the team’s performance. Therefore, all of the first set, and everything that you witnessed, all comes down to the girls. Considering that we have been in training for merely 3 months, the performance from the women has been supremely good.”

His Team Captain, Joquina Roque, stated, “Yesterday, we struggled on all fronts. We found it really difficult to play, under the most severe of circumstances. Today, you saw what was nearly a completely different team in terms of performance on-court. We lost a little focus when we lost the first set, but right up until that point, we were right in the game. Admittedly, we were beaten by the superior team.”

The following match, which was the stand-off between Macau and India’s men’s squads had spectators on edge, as the squads set out to decide what the tournament’s final standings would be.

In Round 1, there were glimpses of Macau’s form that they put on display against Mozambique, but they were eventually overcome by the Indian team, with the score being registered at 25-15 (Time: 21 Minutes). Round 2 saw a India returning with even greater resolve, in an attempt to overrun their opponents, and did so in sound fashion, registering a score of 25-13 (Time: 20 Minutes). The final set was played in near clinical style, with India going for the jugular, scoring 25-16 (Time: 20 Minutes).

Overcome with emotion, the Indian Captain, Rama Krishna Dhawasker stated, “We had only one thing on our mind, and that was to play for the gold. Nothing else would do. Having steeled ourselves with that attitude, the rest was fairly straightforward.”

Lo Si U, Captain of the Macau team, looked back on the tournament fondly, saying, “India are a very powerful side, and their victory was warranted. I felt that we started just on level footing, but halfway into the first set, they completely took over and dominated.”

Head Coach of the squad, Sou Tong Man, spoke on the team’s performance, saying, “I reiterate what I said yesterday as well. After watching the game between Mozambique and Goa-India, we decided to work with a tactical approach to the game. Clearly, our opponents were superior, but I felt we had a good run out in this tournament.”

Ecstatic about the result, The coach of the India squad, A Venkatesan, said, “I want to thank everybody involved in making this tournament a success. We came with a physical and mental mindset to do our very best, and I think our players managed to do just that.”

21-01-2014 … : Goa could soon emerge as a global beach volleyball destination according to Irwin Soares tournament director and chairman beach volleyball at the Lusofonia Games 2014. Even before the first smash is slammed on the golden sand at Miramar beach,

Soares claims that offers have already started coming in from across the globe for holding beach volleyball tourneys in Goa.

 “Beach volleyball is a wonderful event and Goa is the most appropriate place for beach volleyball, and it is going to be marked on the world map. We have been getting offers for international events in Goa and are very happy with the press as they are promoting us. Lusofonia Games have not even started and we are getting offers,” Soares claims, stating that beach volleyball arrangements can be compared to the best in the world.

 Soares also said that the sport will be played out over seven to eight days with Portugal, Angola,Sri Lanka and India being the top teams and would be a great attraction during the Lusofonia Games 2014.

Pradeep John, competition manager, beach volley ball, said that from January 22-26 over 50 matches would be played at Miramar during the competitions .

 “Four matches are going to be held in the morning session. Then there will be a break and the next session will start at 4.30 pm,” he said, claiming that the break had been planned in a way so as to avoid the day’s heat.

 “There are three practice courts and a practice schedule is given to the participating teams and there is ample of time for them to practice,” John further said.

 According to team Goa-India’s head coach Surya Sawant, India’s chances of winning a medal in the sport are good. “We have very good teams. Their performance has improved and there is a positive sign in their capability and their ability to perform. I’m sure they will make Goans proud,” Sawant said.