PANJIM: Goa put up a winning display on the opening day of the men’s and women’s Unified beach volleyball tournament at Miramar, at the International Purple Fest, Goa 2024.
In the women’s category, Goa beat Kerala 2-1 (15- 6, 14 – 16, 15 – 11). Goa men came from a set down to overcome a fighting Puducherry 2-1 (11-15, 15 – 10, 15-12).
In the National lawn tennis tournament for the visually-impaired, Nibin Matthew emerged the champion in the B1 category (fully blind), while Shamsuddin PA was the runner-up, at Clube Tennis de Gaspar Dias on Wednesday. In the B2 (partially blind) category, Arbaaz Patel from Maharashtra walked away with the top honours. Umair Shaikh from Telangana finished runner-up.
The day-long Boccia event, from men and women at Dr KB Hedgewar HS-Cujira, saw three categories depending on the disabilities; with the mix-gender contest also producing close battles. Sarita Dwivedi, an artist from Uttar Pradesh, dabbled into sports for the first time and did it very well. The Kanpur-resident topped the BC2 category. Komal Vyas won the BC3 category event while Selvam M was the champion in the BC4 competition. Goa’s Moises Rodrigues was the runner-up in the BC4 event.
In wheelchair cricket at SAG ground, Campal, Karnataka and Delhi sealed the final spots. The final will be played on Thursday at 9 am.
For hosts Goa, who were making their debut in wheelchair cricket, the event provided a lot of exposure and encouragement. The hosts put up a better fight today compared to their disastrous outing yesterday.
Taking on Madhya Pradesh, Goa won the toss and batted first. Riding on a fantastic knock of 83 from Mahesh Padalkar, Goa posted 114/4 in the alloted 20 overs. MP, however, chased down the target in 12 overs with eight wickets in hand.
Elsewhere, Karnataka beat Mumbai by 58 runs; UP beat Rajasthan by 7 wickets; Delhi beat Telangana by 6 wickets.
The day also saw the National Para-Athletics Championship 2024, being declared open in the presence of Sports Minister Govind Gaude, Social Welfare Minister Subhash Phal Dessai and other dignitaries, at Bambolim Athletics Stadium.
