GOA, 20th, January 2014: Adding to the splendid visuals of the opening ceremony, the host team, Goa (India) re-lit the fireworks, those of victory this time, by putting up a fantastic show at Volleyball and Table Tennis while competing at Lusofonia Games, Goa – 2014. All the participating teams, across Mens and Womens teams, sweat it out and sealed day one by comfortable victories in their respective sports.
The Peddem Multipurpose Indoor stadium saw the first Indian team to represent the nation at the Games in the sport of Table Tennis. The honour was done by the Women’s team and the skilled athletes did the country proud by an amazing team performance leading to a 3-1 win against their Sri Lankan counterparts who had already warmed up by playing their first match, prior to facing the home team.
The Indian Men put on a glorious fight against the heavy Angolan intimidation and followed up with straight wins against the opposition team Angola, adding to the victory celebrations. The First set of the Mens Group League Round 2 was played between Quebuco Elisandro from Angola versus Anthony Amalraj from Goa (India).
The score of 5-11 indicated clear dominance by the Indian which was continued by a strong 7-11. The third set was yet again won by India with a score of 3-11. The second Set saw Neto Edvane from Angola and Harmeet Desai from India compete for excellence. While the first set was comfortable won with 3-11 by Desai, the second set proved to be a close encounter which was eventually clinched by the Indian player with a score of 10-12.
The third set was yet again dominated by Harmeet with a clean sweep of 7-11. Set 3 was played by Antonio Allesion from Angola versus Ghosh Soumyajit from the home team. The first set was opened by a comfortable win with a score of 4-11 by the ace table tennis player. Angola fought back with a score of 11-8 in the second set before losing the third set to India with 8-11, thereby sealing the match with a 3-0 win.
The Indian women repeated the performance against Macau by defeating Macau 3-0 in the final match of the day and making their position stronger in the qualifiers.
The Volleyball matches, at Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium near Goa University, featured Goa (India) versus Macau and Goa (India) versus Mozambique in the women’s and men’s categories respectively.
In the women’s match, Goa-India dispatched off their Macanese opponents 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).
In Round 2, the home team pressed the gas pedal accelerating swiftly to a score of 25-10 (Time: 20 Minutes). Round 3 saw a repeat of Round 2 and sealed the fate of Macau (China) (Time: 20 Minutes).
The Mens team, on the other hand, made the match a treat to the eyes by making it an exciting battle of skill and determination. In Round 1, Goa (India) took the lead with a score of 25-17 (Time: 17 Minutes) with a comfortable lead.
Round 2, indicated some resistance from Mozambique to claw their way back into the game, score of 25-21 (Time: 20 Minutes). Round 3, on the other hand, saw the host team decimate their opponent with a score of 25-10 (Time: 16 Minutes).
The 3rd Lusofonia Games will be held over the period of 12 days from 18th to 29th January 2014 and is enjoying participation from athletes and officials from 12 nations. Participating countries are founding members Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea- Bissau, Goa (India), Macau (China), Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe and Sri Lanka.
Athletes from 12 nations are competing in 9 different sporting disciplines – Athletics, Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Football, Judo, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Volleyball and Wushu.
The Lusofonia Games are among the largest and the most prestigious multinational, multi-sport games in the world organized by ACOLOP (Associação dos Comités Olímpicos de Língua Oficial Portugues), which involves athletes coming from Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) countries, namely those belonging to the CPLP (Community of Portuguese Language Countries), but also others where there are significant Portuguese communities or that have a common past with Portugal.
The ACOLOP is a non-governmental organisation consisting of 12 members, whose main purpose is to strengthen the unity and cooperation of its members, through Sport.
