10/03/2014 … The 2014 goa premiere league cricket tournament organized by goa cricket association would see two foreign teams among the eight teams for the T20 cricket tournament which will commence from march 12 at the gca grounds at porvorim and would be inaugurated by legendary cricketer kapil dev while the finals of gpl-t20 could see cricketers like Sachin tendulkar or rahul dravid being a part of the prize distribution ceremony.

The tournament which would be played under flood lights for the first time would have a team from united states which will have players from Pakistan and west indies, a team from Russia and six other teams from goa …

Speaking to goanreporter at the gca office at porvorim president of goa cricket association vinod phadke said that seven teams had already confirmed their participation and the league would have two matches a day with the second match being played under lights

Phadke said that since the entry for gpl matches would be free and one match being held under flood lights its would be a good opportunity for goans to see gpl-t20 match during the night time

Phadke also stated that his main aim was to see goa having its own international cricket stadium in the state

09/03/2014 … Violating the election code of conduct rules the officials of the pwd department on Friday carried out the recruitment process of technical assistants b.e civil which was to be recruited in the NRW cell of the pwd department

Though the pwd minister sudhin dhavlikar denied that there was any violation of code of conduct rules but the interview process was seen going on in the pwd department where in candidates selection process was seen going on on Friday morning

Speaking to goanreporter pwd minister sudhin dhavlikar said that the interviews notice was sent to the selected candidates five days before the election code of conduct could come in force and even permission to hold the selection process was taken from the state election commission office

28/01/2014 … team Goa-India won the coveted Basketball gold medal beating Angola in a thrilling match, in what was otherwise an action-packed day at the Dr. Shyama Prasad Mookerji indoor stadium at Taleigao, which also saw two other medal matches being played out. 

The first game of the day was the tie between Mozambique and Cape Verde. The low scoring match went in favour of Mozambique, with the balance tilting in their favour in the final quarter. The final score: 56-37.

Cesar Mujui, Head Coach of Mozambique, contently said, “We knew that the final quarter would be the decider, and went for the Bronze with that mentality. Once we established a clear cut 10 point lead, we knew we were headed in the right direction.”

The following match was the medal-decider between Women’s Gold contenders Angola and Mozambique. The last leg in what started out as a round robin tournament saw both teams needing a victory in order to get their hands on the coveted medal. Playing their signature style of full-court press offensive play, Mozambique attacked their opponents right from the tip-off, and defended just as relentlessly.

By halftime, there seemed to be nearly no doubt as to who would be heading home in first place with the score leaning in Mozambique’s favour by that point at 21-40. The final score, in Mozambique’s favour was set at 73-49.

Ecstatic with his side’s performance, Head Coach of Mozambique, Nazir Sale, said, “This is what we came here with our sights set on. It was hard work, that we needed to accomplish, and I feel that we did just that. Angola are a difficult side to play, but we overcame them with our pace and percentage of steals.”

Following their first encounter, the game between Angola and Goa-India was always going to be hard fought. Of this there was no doubt.

However, a nail biter of such large proportions is always one worth witnessing, irrespective of how many times the sides play each other.

By the end of the game, tempers may have been frayed, and animosity may have been abundant, but there could only be one winner, and that was Goa-India, with the score set at 77-70.

Stoked by the result, Goa-India Head Coach, Scott Flemming said, “Tonight was a great win that showed immense character. I think it all comes down to a unified performance. The team needed to push for the lead. That they did and it just tipped in our favour. Superb result in all.”

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.