21-01-2014 : There was everything to play for at the Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium at Taleigao today, with Mozambique as well as Macau needing that crucial win to realistically stand chance at getting their grip on the top two positions. 

In the women’s match, Macau surged ahead in the first set. At one point the team secured a near 10-point lead over their African counterparts, only to see Mozambique claw their way back, before Macau took the set 25-20 (Time: 22 Minutes). Round 2, saw a similarly close result, with a marginal difference of 25-17 (Time: 23 Minutes). The score from Round 3 was 25-10 (Time: 21 Minutes). 

At the game’s end, the Captain of the Macau team, Lei Sin Kuan, said, “We have had a great learning and developing experience here. Having played both games, we have, as a team, come to understand, the different natures of the two sides we have played. India has proven to be more meticulous in terms of work ethic, but Mozambique has been just as aggressive.” 

The Head Coach, N.G Wai Keong agreed with his fearless leader’s statement, saying, “I am in agreement with our captain, and support what she has indicated about a fantastic performance from both squads, but would like to acknowledge a great performance from our team today.” 

His counterpart, the Head-Coach of Mozambique, Amilton De Barros said, “There is no doubt that we fielded our strongest possible squad out there. However, that being said, we were put to the sword from the word ‘go’.” 
The Mozambican team’s spokesperson, Team Captain, Elisa Simbine, who spoke on the team’s shortcomings kept it brief when she said, “I would not like to say anything more, other than acknowledge a superb performance from our opponents.” 

The second match, between the men’s squads had both teams with the bit between their teeth as they both slugged it out for court supremacy. In Round 1, the teams went at it point for point, with a hotly contested, long drawn first set eventually ending with a controversial spike in favour of the Mozambican team 31-29 (Time: 33 Minutes). Round 2 saw a combative effort from Macau being overturned by Mozambique, with the scores at 25-19 (Time: 23 Minutes). The final set was played out with a result being recorded, identical to the second set, at 25-19 (Time: 22 Minutes). 
In victorious elation, the Captain of the Mozambique squad Nuvunga Aldevino Enoque Fernando, stated, “We came here with a plan. A plan to walk away from our second fixture victorious, and I feel that we managed to do just that. It felt good to get one victory under our belt, and I think that it was a largely down to a matter of asserting our superiority over our opponents.” 

Lo Si U, Captain of the Macau team, in turn believed, “I felt that we started well, but they took over halfway through. Their spikers and blockers were very powerful.

That being said, we have thoroughly enjoyed the tournament thus far.” His Coach, Sou Tong Man, justified his approach and performance during the game, saying, “We watched the game between Mozambique and Goa-India very closely.

We noted down a lot of the game-play employed by both teams, and had an early morning meeting to discuss the same. We knew that we would be physically inferior to our opponents today, and as such decided to employ a more tactical approach to the game.” 

On the victory, the coach of the African squad, Jose Efrain Solano Peraza, said, “I assured everyone after our first match, that our second effort would show greater resolve and promise. I think that we have delivered on those fronts. Yesterday, we were overcome by our opponents, but we were in a much better place today, both physically and mentally, and as such, we prevailed.”

21-01-2014 : The 3^rd Lusofonia Games 2014 announces its first Gold Medal. Guess who? Yes, you are absolutely right – it’s our very own Indian Women’s team in the sport of Table Tennis.  

The Indian women’s performance was nothing short of spectacular! The ladies did not let any country take away their prefixed goal for the Gold. They came – they saw – they conquered!

The women’s team – Patkar Madhurika, Ankita Das, Tanisi Kirtani & Shamini Kumaresan brought out their ‘A’ game and trampled over their opponents undefeated till the very end. The focus, determination and unmatched precision of our players under the guidance of coach Peter Engel was the focal point of the game-play that guaranteed the Gold Medal. Our 11 yr old, youngest table tennis star of the nation – Tanisi Kirtani displayed magnificent skills in Round 4. Shamini Kumaresan won the 1^st game of the match for India with a calm but fierce offense against Joana Mota. Ankita Das & Madhurika Patkar went on to win straight games against Portugal, dominating the league. The Portugal players aggression was evident as a result of the flaming offense of the Indian players, & as such, finally succumbed to the pure pressure of the home team.

20-01-2014 …. :All’s well that begins well, according to Alex Vong president of the ACOLOP, who has credited the LUGOC, Goa government and the Goa Olympic Association for making the Lusofonia Games happen, despite adversities.

Vong addressed a press conference at the Dr. Shyam Prasad Mukherjee stadium at the Goa University, where he described the grand Opening Ceremony as “fantastic” thanking all the stakeholders for putting together the amazing show.

“I would like to thank the Government of Goa, Organizing Committee and Goa Olympic Association for their successful opening last night as it was fantastic. I am looking forward to further success,” Vong stated.

Patting the Lusofonia Games 2014 stakeholders, Vong said: “After the Games were postponed from November to December, due to certain difficulties of their own, the members in the NOC have tried their very best to take part in the games and support the ACOLOP in Lusofonia Games. All the members support Lusofonia games and Goa Olympics Association.”

As per Vong, the Lusofonia Games are all about Unity in Diversity, where all Lusofone members across countries and continents come together to make the global event successful.

Asked to compare the Lusofonia Games 2014 with the earlier two editions of the event in Macau and Lisbon, Vong said, it was not an easy thing to do.

“It is very difficult to compare because each of the editions of the Lusofonia Games is held in a different country and they have their respective culture. We do not believe that it is fair to compare, and we have received positive comments from all the members of the NOC.

Even though we encountered a number of difficulties, finally we, particularly through the efforts of the organisers, have come to this stage and we have the games inaugurated,” he said.

The Lusofonia Games 2014 got off to a scintillating start to jam-packed crowds at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru stadium at Fatorda, in Goa.

20-01-2014 : :  Team Goa-India literally got off to a smashing start at the 3rd Lusofonia Games,  both men and women spikers notching a win in their respective matches held today.

The matches featured Goa-India versus Macau and Goa-India versus Mozambique in the women’s and men’s categories respectively. Team Goa-India’s women spikers dispatched their Macanese opponents off in straight sets, with complete dominance over the course of the game.

At the end of Round 1, Goa-India had taken the lead 25-16 (Time: 20 Minutes), which while substantial, did not assert dominance. Round 2, however, was more indicative of their superiority, with a performance that was affirmed by the daunting scoreline: 25-10 (Time: 20 Minutes). The score from Round 2 was repeated in Round 3 (Time: 20 Minutes).

At the end of the game, the Goa-India team Captain, Melinda Pereira, said, “A lot of it came down to the tenacity and hard work displayed the girls. Defensively, we worked very hard, and that was reflected in the scores.”

The Head Coach, R.P Tailor followed up on his star athlete’s point of view, saying, “A lot of the end result came down to effort and determination. The girls can be proud of their efforts on the court, and while we might well be guaranteed a medal, we won’t play with any less heart.”

The Macau squad was represented by their Captain, Lei Sin Kuan, whoadmitted her team was found wanting, saying, “We had an uphill battle right from the start. The team fumbled a bit defensively, and at the end of the day, it cost us dearly. We can but hope that from here on, things will improve.”

The men’s match on the other hand, proved to be a dodgy affair that went down to the wire.

Round 1 saw Team Goa-India take the lead with a score of 25-17 (Time: 17 Minutes). While they won the round,  the score line indicates that they could not dominate the same.
Round 2, saw Mozambique press the pedal clawing their way back into the game with a score of 25-21 (Time: 20 Minutes). But come Round 3, and the hosts simply decimated their opponent with a score of 25-10 (Time: 16 Minutes).

Reflecting on the victory, the Captain of the Indian squad Rama Krishna Dhawasker, opined, “The boys gave it their all. Mozambique is an agressive team, but we managed to overcome them.”

Captain of the opposition, Nuvunga Aldevino Enoque Fernando, felt, “The sport is in its nascent stages in Mozambique. Clubs dominate the sporting scene in Mozambique. We have still-growing infrastructure, and as such are still in the process of emerging as a sporting nation in volleyball.”

All in all, a great first day out at the tourney for the home teams. 

20-01-2014: The Lusofonia Games have begun. Leading to an explosive start at the Peddem, Multipurpose Indoor stadium, the participant countries battled it out in the sport of Table Tennis. Round one of the battle ground started off with the Women’s teams at the 3^rd edition of the Lusofonia Games between Portugal & Angola.

 Portugal came out with a bang, which lead to a glorious win against the equally fierce Angolian offense. Angola’s Isabel Albino gave Portugal’s Marta a tough fight and almost managed to get the country back in the game by getting in to a nail biting tie in the 4^th set. Final score: 3-0 with a Portugal win. The Men’s team came out guns ablaze and followed Portugal’s footsteps by beating them 3-0 as well.  

 The first Indian team to represent the country was in the sport of Table Tennis and the honour was done by our very own Women’s team, who did the country proud by an amazing team performance leading to a 3-1 win against Sri Lanka.

 The Indian Men were not far behind in keeping up the bar which was set by the women. Our players did spectacularly well against their straight wins against Angola. Anthony Amalraj, Harmeet Desai and Soumyajit Ghosh put on a glorious fight against the heavy Angolan intimidation. Group league round 2 men’s First set was played by Quebuco Elisandro from Angola versus Anthony Amalraj from India. First round was dominated by the Indians with the score of 5-11. The second set was also dominated by India with 7-11. The third set was yet again won by India with a score of 3-11. Set 2 was played by Neto Edvane from Angola versus Desai Harmeet from India. First set was dominated by India with 3-11.

 Second set was a close match between the two competitors but India managed to win with a score of 10-12. The third set was yet again dominated by the Indian with a clean sweep of 7-11. Set 3 was played by Antonio Allesion from Angola versus Ghosh Soumyajit. The first set was opened by the Indians winning it with a comfortable 4-11. Angola fought back with a score of 11-8 in the second set. Coincidentally India came back in the third set with 8-11. India finished off the round with a winning score of 8-11 and concluding the match by finishing with a 3-0 win. The spectators were at the edge of their seats. The Indian Women’s team repeated the performance against Macau by making their position stronger in the qualifications. They beat Macau 3-0 in the final match of the day.