21-01-2014 : The 3rd 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 1st 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.
