Panaji: A day after blaming rescheduling for poor response to the ongoing Lusofonia games, the organisers today said the participation was quite close to the one during the last two editions of the Portuguese Commonwealth Games.
"Compared to the earlier edition of the event, the participation in Goa is at the same level, if not above," ACOLOP general secretary Mario Rosa told reporters here.
He said the distance to Goa (India) might have kept some participating teams away, but the response is not less than the previous editions held at Macau and Portugal.
The shifting of the games from November last year to January this year resulted in "less response for the event by the member nations," Alex Wong, the president of ACOLOP (an Association of the Portuguese Speaking Olympic Committees), had said yesterday.
The ACOLOP has Portuguese-speaking Lusophone countries as its members.
While more than 1,000 players were expected to participate in the event, but only 700 representing 12 nations have turned up.
Brazil has representation only in one sport discipline – wushu. Rosa said the Brazil football team never participated in Lusofonia games.
On other nations skipping the much awaited football matches, he said, "International football calendar was clashing with the event."
"The Games are not only about football," he said.
Lanka needs a draw to advance to semifinals
Lanka needs a draw to advance to semifinals
Panaji: Sri Lanka are looking to seal their berth in the semi-finals when they play their last group 'A' league match of the Lusofonia Games football competition against Sao Tome tomorrow at Tilak Stadium in Vasco.
With two teams qualifying from each group for the semi-finals, Sri Lanka, who beat Macau yesterday, now need a draw against Sao Tome to qualify for the semis. The Lankans gave good account of themselves against Macau, especially in the first half to score the only goal through Bamanne Rathnake in the 40th minute.
The Sri Lankans could have won by a bigger margin had it not been for striker Hondamunge de Silva missing a couple of close chances. He was either slow to react or late in connecting Mohamad Hakeem's crosses from the right who gave good account of himself. Sri Lankan coach Lolonnage Perera was happy the way his team played against Macau.
The win has raised the confidence of the team and the players are looking forward to beat Sao Tome tomorrow. "All we need is to be more sharp when chances come our way," Perera said.
Lusofonia games: Indian women bag maiden table tennis gold
Lusofonia games: Indian women bag maiden table tennis gold
Panaji: Indian women today defeated Portugal 3-0 to bag gold medal in table tennis match at ongoing Lusofonia games. India has won all the league matches in the tournament.
Portugal and Sri Lanka had to settle for silver and bronze medals, respectively. For India, three-time national champion Shamini Kumarsen, current national champion Ankita Das and Madhurika Patkar won their all singles matches.
In the first match, Kumarsen defeated Joana Mota by 11-7, 11-5, 9-11 and 13-11. Das trounced Rackel Andrade by straight set to 11-8, 11-8 and 11-7, thus giving India 2-0 lead.
In the last game, Patkar beat Joana Fins by 11-8, 11-5, 11-5 to give India its first gold of the tournament. This is the first medal India in Lusofonia table tennis event.
