Panaji: Indian women volleyball team began their Lusofonia campaign on a winning note by defeating Macau in straight three sets at Dr Shamaprasad Mukherjee stadium here.
The Indian team, led by Melinda Pereira, put up a good show during the match as they got the better of Macau 25-16, 25-10, 25-10. They will take on Mozambique tomorrow.
All throughout the match, Macau led by Lei Sin Kuan looked a weaker side.
"The attack was okay from our side but we had a locking failure," said Kuan after the match in the presence of team's chief coach NG Wai Keong. She said Macau failed to deliver due to a weak defence.
Pereira said the international exposure for the team helped them surpass the rivals today. "Girls performed very good, the attack was good, defence was good and we had good lock time," she said. Indian team coach R P Tailor credited the victory to two most promising players Tiji Raju and Vengandan Soumya.
"Our priority is to concentrate on the next match now," he said. In the opening match, the Indian women outshone their Macau counterparts hitting best shots over the net. The winning team was in attacking mode right from the start and kept its spirit up till the end, except for few minutes during the second set with Macau tried to edge past the hosts.
During the first set, India's lifter Priyanka Khedkar had few of the best saves. Vengadan Soumya, who displayed best defence, also shot some fabulous serves. Kuan's efforts to score did met limited success.
After winning the first set 25-16, Indian team kept the pressure on the rivals, with captain Pereira who did not play the first set, joining in. Macau had three substitutions during the second set which they lost 10-25. The host team summed up the match in the third out of five sets when they won it 25-10.
Lusofonia Games:Indian men defeat Mozambique in volleyball
Lusofonia Games:Indian men defeat Mozambique in volleyball
Panaji: Indian men's volleyball team today defeated Mozambique to brighten up its chances of winning a gold medal as only three teams are participating in this segment at ongoing Lusofonia Games here.
The Indian team, led by Rama Dhawaskar, defeated Mozambique 25-17, 25-21, 25-10.
Today's victory has given a significant boost to the gold medal dream as the team has to fight Macau, comparatively a weaker opponent. Only three nations -- India, Macau and Mozambique -- are vying for the medal. Indian smashers M Naveen Raja Jacob, G R Vaishnav and Navjit Singh outperformed others in the match defeating the efforts put in by Carriere Luis Miguel and Nuvunga Fernando of the rival team.
Mozambique team's head coach Jose Efrain Solano Peraza attributed the poor performance to the "tiredness due to the time spent by the team in the flight to arrive in the host state". "Guys tried their best to get into the match but the time spent in the plane was too much," he said.
Team's captain Nuvunga Fernando said they tried their best but the result was not up to the mark. Jubilant Indian team manager Irvin Soares said that the efforts by players Prabhagaran, M Ukkrapandian, Navjit Singh and capitan Rama Dhawaskar finally paid off.
He stated that the performance was marvellous despite the fact that the team had little time to prepare. Indian team chief coach A Venkatesan said the focus would be on the next match against Macau, which is crucial to aim for the gold.
Change in schedule affected Lusofonia response, say organisers
Change in schedule affected Lusofonia response, say organisers
Panaji: The organisers of ongoing Lusofonia Games today said change in its schedule from November last to January 2014 has resulted in "less response" to the event by some countries.
"As the games were postponed to January from November, all the ACOLOP members could not participate in the event," said Alex Wong, president of the Association of Portuguese Speaking Nations (Acolop), the organisers of Lusofonia games 2014, also known as the Portuguese Commonwealth Games.
He was speaking to reporters at Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee stadium.
The Acolop has Portuguese-speaking Lusophone countries as its members. The games, scheduled for November last, were postponed till January as the state government could not put up the necessary infrastructure to host the multi-discipline event.
Goa government has constructed two new stadiums while existing three facilities have been upgraded to host the games which has 12 countries participating in it. Brazil, which topped the tally of medals during the Lusofonia games in 2009, has sent a small contingent this time which will participate only in Wushu tournament. Wong said the member countries tried their best to support and take part in Lusofonia games.
"You can see the officials of Acolop member nations supporting the organising committee," he said, adding that all Acolop member countries have worked very hard to organise this event in Goa.
Contrary to the initial claims of organisers that over 1,200 sportsmen will participate in the Games, the ongoing event has less than 700 players from countries including the Portuguese Commonwealth nations like Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Goa (India), Macau (China), Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe, and Sri Lanka.
The event is held in nine disciplines including athletics, basketball, beach volleyball, football, judo, table tennis, taekwondo, volleyball and wushu.
