Team Herald
sports@herald-goa.com
MAPUSA/PANJIM: Goa played their hearts out to register a 2-0 win over Mizoram in the 38th National Games football match played at Indira Gandhi International Sports Complex, Halldwani, Uttarkhand, on Saturday.
Goa after their 3-2 defeat to Assam came strongly into today’s match and scored in each session of play against Mizoram.
Coach Charles Dias was happy to have back his striker Clencio Pinto in his starting XI, who had netted a brace against Assam but had to leave the field due to head injury. In the 42nd minute Clencio was instrumental in the opening goal as he set up Mohammed Faheez inside the 18-yard box, who made no mistake to slot the ball into the goal, 1-0.
On crossing over, Goa doubled their lead with Clencio Pinto scoring from the penalty spot, after Mizoram defender pushed Krishna Gawas inside the penalty box.
Mizoram time and again attacked the rival citadel but the last line of Goa’s defence Brian Faria, Joseph Clemente, Umang Gaikwad and Sarino Fernandes along with goalkeeper Akshat Hadkonkar held to their two goals lead till the final hooter.
Goa will play their last crucial match against hosts Uttarkhand on February 3.
Commenting post match, Head Coach Charles Dias commended team for the victory against Mizoram.
He said, “The boys played very well and made the opposition pay. Our goalkeeper was fantastic. We played well in the first game too but made some mistakes but today we were very good. We made a few changes in the playing 11 and it paid off. We now play against the hosts Uttarakhand day after, and we should continue with this form.”
Squash: Akansha
enters semi-finals
Top seeded Akanksha Salunkhe of Goa has entered the semi-finals of squash tournament. She beat Anika Dube of Maharashtra 11-1, 11-9, 15-13. She is expected to play against an opponent from Tamil Nadu.
Coach Pintoo Rai said she played at a very good level and that will be good news for Goa which is looking for its next medal. He said her game looked very good.
Shooters
disappoint
Goa’s shooters came in 23rd out of 25 teams in the 10 metre mixed team qualification round. They scored 619.1 points and the heat was won by Punjab, who scored 631.7 points.
Aditya Sawant, a shooter involved in the match said it was a good match and the practice before the match was very good but the team did not manage its time well and were a bit delayed. This meant they were under pressure for every shot. And that played on their performance.
He said the team was ranked fourth from the bottom. The shooting team is done with the competition and will be returning to Goa on Saturday night.
Swimmer clocks
slowest time
Aahil Sheikh clocked the slowest time in the 200m butterfly event. He clocked 3:03:03 the slowest time in the heat.
When asked for the reason for the poor performance he said the swimmers were selected on the basis of their performance in the State championship. Which he said was five months ago. Aahil said he was part of the Khelo India training session in Mapusa.
He however hoped Goa would have something to cheer for when Shrungi Bandekar participated in the 100 metres backstroke. He said she was a strong contender and her event would be held early in the morning.