Rich harvest by India paddlers; win all but one gold medal

Goa, January 23, 2014: India bagged all but one gold medal in the table tennis events at the third Lusofonia Games here today. Of the five gold medals on offer on the concluding day, Indian paddlers were just stopped from a clean sweep of the yellow metal as Portugal’s pair of Dioga Silva and Andre Silva claimed the men’s doubles gold.

Harmeet Desai, continuing with his great form that he hit this season, defeated former national champion Soumyajit Ghosh 4-1 (11-8, 11-2, 11-7,8-11, 11-7) to win the men’s singles gold while K. Shamini downed compatriot Madhurika Patkar 4-2 (5-11, 11-5, 11-7, 5-11, 11-7, 11-3) in a contest that went down to the wire.

Later, the two combined together to annex the women’s doubles gold as well, beating the Portugal duo of Marta Santos and Joana Mota in straight games. The mixed doubles was duly claimed by the Indian pair of Soumyajit Ghosh and Ankita Das, who beat Portugal’s Diogo Silva and Joana Mota 3-0, thus making amends for their losses in other events.

Desai wasted no time in taking grip of the singles final even as Ghosh was struggling to find his feet. Running up a 3-0 lead, the Gujarati lad had the measure of his opponent, attacking on both flanks. Ghosh, on the other hand, was making far too many errors, both at the net as well as in service, from which he could never get out. But credit must be given to Desai whose relentless attack kept Ghosh away from any harm’s distance despite he managed to win the fourth game.

Shamini began on a wrong note only to straighten things out soon enough. Madhurika, known for her attacking game, was somewhat subdued once she let her rival off the hook in the fifth game and with that her chance of winning the gold. Shamini seized the offerings to win the last two games coolly to grab the gold, leaving Madhurika with the silver.

India also bagged two bronze medals, one each in the men’s doubles and mixed doubles besides the two team gold medals they had won on the second day of the Games.

RESULTS:

Men Singles: (Final): Harmeet Desai (Ind) bt Soumyajit  Ghosh (Ind) 4-1 (11-8, 11-2, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7); Semi-finals:  Soumyajit           Ghosh  bt  Andre Silva (Por) 4-0 (11-7, 11-6, 11-5, 11-5), Harmeet Desai bt Dioga Silva 4-0 (11-7, 11-7, 11-8, 11-8); Bronze: Andre Silva (Por) bt Dioga Silva (Por) 4-0 (11-7, 11-6, 11-7, 12-10).

Men’s doubles (Final): Dioga Silva/Andre Silva (Por) bt Jorge Costa/Dinis Chunha (Por) 3-1 (11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 11-5); Bronze: Soumyajit Ghosh/Harmeet Desai bt Le Chon Cheok/Ka Hou NG (Mac) 3-2 (7-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-5, 11-7).

Women’s singles (Final): K. Shamini (Ind) bt Madhurika Patkar (Ind) 4-2 (5-11, 11-5, 11-7, 5-11, 11-7, 11-3); Semi-finals: Madhurika Patkar bt Ankita Das 4-3 (11-6, 12-14, 5-11, 11-811-13, 11-6, 11-6), K. Shamini bt Raquel Andrade (Por) 4-0 (11-8, 11-9, 12-10, 11-4); Bronze: Ankita Das bt Raquel Andrade (Por) 4-0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-6, 12-10).

Women Doubles (Final):  K. Shamini /Madhurika Patkar (Ind) bt Marta Santos/Joana Mota (Por) 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-6). Bronze: Raquel/Patricia (Por) bt Ishara Madurangi/Nuwani G. Vithanage (Sri) 3-2 (11-4, 9-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-6).

Mixed Doubles (Final): Soumyajit Ghosh/Akita Das (Ind) bt  Diogo Silva/Joana Mota (Por) 3-0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-9); Bronze: Harmeet Desai/K. Shamini (Ind) bt Andre Silva/Patricia Maciel (Por) 3-0 (11-6, 11-6, 12-10).

Paddlers give India first gold medals at Lusofonia Games

Goa, January 20, 2014: India’s first gold medals in the third Lusofonia Games came via table tennis when the country’s men and women paddlers kept their top billing intact in the five-team pool events, keeping their slate clean all through. Portugal, despite putting up a good fight against India, had to be content with the silver. Neighbours Sri Lanka took bronze in the men’s section.

Indian men defeated Portugal 3-1 in an intensive battle while their women just ran through their European opponents 3-0 in what was a one-sided affair to claim the team gold medals in both the sections. Sri Lanka claimed the silver while the bronze medal went to Macau in the women’s fare.

In fact, it was the Indian women paddlers who gave the country their maiden gold medal, incidentally the first ever in table tennis at the Games so far. They were followed by the Indian men who, to start with, were in a bit of a tangle after Soumyajit Ghosh lost his singles to southpaw Diogo Silva. But what gave India the advantage was the game between Anthony Amal Raj, who defeated another left-handed Jorge after being 0-2 down.

Amal Raj played a great game, attacking on both flanks despite having lost the first two games to Costa. In the second game, Amal Raj was down 0-9 but picked up his so well that he scored seven straight points to lose the game at 7-11. But that gave him the confidence and momentum that he not only went on to equal but also win the next three to give India 2-0 lead.  

Before that, in the second game with Amal Raj leading 3-0 there was a controversy with the Sri Lankan umpire Mohammad Nasser showing the red card to a Portugal player for illegal advice despite being warned with a yellow card earlier. The technical bench ruled the erring player to be sent off the bench which the Portugal team protested. However, the technical bench ruled that the player can return only if he needed to play the match.

After things had cooled down, Amal Raj with a cushion of 3-0 lead but lost the game. He, however, never lost the focus as he came back nicely to set things in motion. In the fourth game, Soumyajit Ghosh defeated Andre Silva 3-1 (7-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-6) to put the issue beyond Portugal’s issue. Earlier, Harmeet Desai came back well against Andre Silva to give India 1-0 lead.

As for the Indian women, it was totally a one-sided issue with K. Shamini accounting for Joana Mota 3-1, Anikita Das then beating Raquel Andrade 3-0 and Madhurika Patkar completing the formality with a 3-0 win over Joana Fins.    

Results: (5th round):

INDIA  beat  PORTUGAL (3 - 1)                  

DESAI HarmeetbeatSILVA Andre                                              3 - 1        (11-9,  11-7,  7-11,  11-9)               

GHOSH Soumyajitlost toSILVA Diogo                                       2 - 3        (8-11,  11-7,  11-9,  4-11,  7-11)   

ANTHONY  Amalraj beat COSTA Jorge                                     3 - 2        (8-11,  10-12,  11-3,  11-6,  11-6) 

GHOSH Soumyajit beat SILVA Andre                                       3 - 1        (7-11,  11-5,  12-10,  11-6)

INDIA  beat PORTUGAL (3 - 0)                   

KUMARESAN Shamini beat MOTA Joana                               3 - 1        (11-7,  11-5,  9-11,  13-11)             

DAS Ankita beat ANDRADE Raquel                                           3 - 0        (11-8,  11-8,  11-7)           

PATKAR Madhurika beat FINS Joana                                       3 - 0        (11-8,  11-5,  11-5)

Indian paddlers make a bright start at Lusofonia Games

Goa, January 19, 2014: Indian paddlers made a bright beginning towards asserting their supremacy and going for gold in both men and women categories as they posted easy victories in Stage 1 of the group league matches in the table tennis event of the third Lusofonia Games here today.

Top-seeded India defeated Angola 3-0 without having to break a sweat while their women, though had an upset beginning, trounced Sri Lanka 3-1 to look ahead.

With just five teams—Portugal, Macau, Sri Lanka and Angola, besides hosts India—in fray in both the sections, the first stage got around with group league matches.

Indian men, comprising Anthony Amal Raj, Soumyajit Ghosh and Harmeet Desai, won though Ghosh dropped a game against Allesion Antonia 3-1 (11-4, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8) to make the match somewhat interesting. Both Amal Raj and Desai accounted for their opponents, Elisandro Quebuco and Edvane Neto in straight games.

In the other men’s team events, Portugal downed Sri Lanka 3-0 and Macau defeated Angola 3-0 the first round matches.

Earlier, the second top-ranked Indian Madhurika Patkar, based on her ranking position after the Patna Senior Nationals, was patchy to begin with and it reflected in her match against Ishara. The Sri Lankan, on the other hand, maximized her chances with the Indian making too many faults both at net as well as giving away negative points, losing 2-3.  But both Ankita Das and K. Shamini won their matches against their Sri Lankan opponents to retrieve the situation.  In the other women’s team fare, Portugal beat Angola 3-0, Sri Lanka defeated Macau 3-1.  

The table tennis events at the Games are conducted under the supervision of Ganeshan Neelakant Iyer, the competition manager, with Atul Dubey as the referee.  The Games organizers have drafted in 35 officials, including jury members in MP Singh and Arun Benerjee.  

Results:

Men's Team

Stage: 1: Group League - Round 1

PORTUGAL beat SRI LANKA (3 - 0)

SILVA Andre beat SIRISENA Rohan 3 - 0 (11-6, 11-6, 11-1)

SILVA Diogo beat RANASINGHA Imesh 3 - 0 (13-11, 11-7, 11-2)

CUNHA Dinis beat JAYASINGHA Nirmala 3 - 2 (11-6, 10-12, 11-9, 2-11, 11-6)

Men's Team - Stage: 1: Group League - Round 1

MACAU beat ANGOLA (3 - 0)

CHANG Hoi Wa beat QUEBUCO Elisandro 3 - 1 (11-8, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5)

CHE Weng Heng beat ANTONIO Allesion 3 - 2 (11-5, 11-5, 9-11, 9-11, 11-6)

NG Ka Hou beat SOUSA Hermenegildo 3 - 0 (12-10, 13-11, 11-7)

Men's Team - Stage: 1: Group League - Round 2

INDIA beat ANGOLA (3 - 0)

ANTHONY Amalraj beat QUEBUCO Elisandro 3 - 0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-3)

DESAI Harmeet beat NETO Edvane 3 - 0 (11-3, 12-10, 11-7)

GHOSH Soumyajit beat ANTONIO Allesion 3 - 1 (11-4, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8)

Women's Team - Stage: 1: Group League - Round 1

PORTUGAL beat ANGOLA (3 - 0)

MOTA Joana beat TAVARES Ruth 3 - 0 (11-8, 11-5, 11-4)

ANDRADE Raquel beat SAMALINHA Maria 3 - 2 (6-11, 6-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-6)

SANTOS Marta beat ALBINO Isabel 3 - 2 (11-2, 9-11, 11-5, 13-15, 11-1)

Women's Team - Stage: 1: Group League - Round 1

SRI LANKA beat MACAU (3 - 1)

MADURANGI Ishara lost to WONG Choi Chi 1 - 3 (12-14, 9-11, 11-5, 6-11)

WARUSAWITHANA Erandi beat CHEONG Cheng I 3 - 2 (11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-7)

G. VITHANAGE Nuwani beat KUOK Cheng I 3 - 2 (14-12, 11-8, 6-11, 6-11, 11-8)

MADURANGI Ishara beat CHEONG Cheng I 3 - 2 (11-9, 10-12, 11-6, 12-14, 11-5)

19/01/2014 (Bulletin 2)

Women's Team - Stage: 1 : Group League - Round 2

MACAU beat ANGOLA (3 - 1)

WONG Choi Chi beat SAMALINHA Maria 3 - 0 (11-3, 11-3, 11-7)

CHEONG Cheng I beat TAVARES Ruth 3 - 0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-1)

WONG Sio Leng lost to BORGES Jerusa 2 - 3 (11-6, 11-7, 8-11, 7-11, 8-11)

WONG Choi Chi beat TAVARES Ruth 3 - 0 (11-5, 11-5, 11-8)

Women's Team - Stage: 1 : Group League - Round 2

INDIA beat SRI LANKA (3 - 1)

PATKAR Madhurika lost to MADURANGI Ishara 2 - 3 (17-15, 9-11, 6-11, 11-7, 9-11)

DAS Ankita beat WARUSAWITHANA Erandi 3 - 0 (11-9, 11-8, 11-9)

KUMARESAN Shamini beat G. VITHANAGE Nuwani 3 - 0 (13-11, 11-2, 11-2)

DAS Ankita beat MADURANGI Ishara 3 - 0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-4)