Shrungi Bandekar won her first bronze in the individual medley and Sanjana Prabhugaokar added to her basket, a bronze in the 200 m backstroke, to enable Goan women to stamp their presence as the Goa men are on the cusp of a beach football medal tomorrow after beating Lakshadweep 7-5 in the semifinal of the 37th National Games hosted by Goa.
“The idea is to get satisfaction at the end of the competition. Obviously, I am happy to have won a medal and I will attempt to keep up the tempo in my next two races,” said a beaming Shrungi as she wiped her toil.
Sanjana, who won silver in her first race, finished the day with a bronze in the 200 m backstroke and with three more events on the block is confident she will finish her campaign with plenty of happy memories.
The idea is to get satisfaction at the end of the competition. Obviously, I am happy to have won a medal and I will attempt to keep up the tempo in my next two races
Shrungi Bandekar
“I definitely did not come planned to win a certain number of medals. I want to give my best during the rest and that in itself is satisfying. At the end of the race, it is nice to see so many happy faces,” beamed Sanjana.
The Goa beach football team kept the sway of the match in tandem with the weather and recorded a well-deserving win against Lakshadweep who showed that they had a class of their own.
Goa who has been winning with huge margins started with a 3-0 lead but the visitors struck back cautiously to tie the match 5-5. When it looked like the end would be on the call of luck, Goa scored in the last minutes to secure a place in the final and remain assured of either a gold or silver tomorrow.
“I dedicate today’s victory to the people of Goa and the efforts put in by all the boys. We are going all out to clinch the gold tomorrow and I do not think it will be difficult considering how the team has evolved during the tournament,” predicted coach Bruno Coutinho.
Goa team which made its debut in Roll Ball was put on a roll by Jammu and Kashmir winning 9-1. Played on skates and either on hard even or wood surfaces, the Goa eves found it difficult to resist the onslaughts of the girls from the high hills.
Skating is essential for Roll Ball and few Goans getting the much-needed practices was a problem and that translated into the score line.
Meanwhile, Goan boxers eagerly awaited the outcome of the letter written by Goa Olympic Association (GOA) Secretary Gurudutt Bhakta to Goa Amateur Boxing Association (GABA) asking for domicile proof of the players selected to represent the State.
Since GABA did not reply to my letter, I let them know that they will face financial punitive action for not providing domicile proof
Gurudutt Bhakta, Goa Olympic Association Secretary
“Since GABA did not reply to my letter, I let them know that they will face financial punitive action for not providing domicile proof,” said Bhakta. Sources in GOA have indicated that a few boxers have written to GOA detailing the manner in which they were sidelined in the last few days in favour of boxers from outside.
Goa finished the sixth day at 18th place with a medal tally of 30 - two gold, five silver and 23 bronze.