India claim 5 gold, 4 silver in athletics
FALVIO LOPES
MAPUSA: Osvaldo Morais of Angola emerged as the fastest man at 3rd Lusofonia Games Goa 2014 with a timing of 10.67sec in 100m at Athletic Stadium, Bambolim, on Thursday.
The Angolan was followed by Daniel Martins of Cape Verde (10.75sec) and Mauro Gaspar (10.91sec) of Angola. India’s Irfan Shaikh Carvalho (11.07) finished fifth while Husandeep Singh was disqualified for a faulty start along with Joao Barros of Sao Tome and Principe and Zixian Yang of Macau as the main event saw only five sprinters.
However, the host clinched the gold medal in the women’s 100m as there was no looking back for the all fired up Archana Susentran, who crossed the finish line at 11.98sec. The silver medal also went in India’s favour as Ruma Sarkar (12.16) finished after Archana. The bronze medal was bagged by Sri Lanka’s Jani Hondamuni (12.19).
A total of seven gold medals were at stake from which India clinched five to showcase a commendable performance.
The first gold medal of the day was secured by India’s N D Tintu in women’s high jump by clearing 1.71m followed by Sri Lanka’s Saumaya Sooriyampola (1.68m) and India’s Neena V (1.45m) in the third place.
In shot put, Goa’s 21-year old Hubert D’Costa lived up to the favourite tag and claimed the gold medal with ease with a throw of 12.32m although his season’s best was 13.86m. In the second spot came his countryman, Ashwin Soares (9.77m) while Dos Santos of East Timor (5.32) came in the third position.(Other results see box)
In the men’s long jump, India’s Shankar Dhamdhay (7.01m) and Anik Naik (6.91) secured the gold and silver medals respectively while Cape Verde’s Bruno Moniz (6.76) had to be content with the bronze medal.
P V Chitra of India bagged India’s third consecutive gold medal in women’s 1500m with a timing of 4:35:37sec while Angola’s Felismina (4:41:15) finished second and India Nitisha Gaonk (5:04:10) in third spot.
India had high hopes in men’s 1500m race but Afsal Mohammed (4:10:60) managed a hard fought bronze with Mozambique’s Alberto Mamba (4:06:90) outpacing his opponents. Chamal Hewage (4:08:60) of Sri Lanka secured silver.
India’s Cassius Fernandes qualified for Friday’s 400m finals along with Izequiel Evora (Cape Verde), Ka Hou Ao Ieong (Macau), Alex Anjos (Sao Tome and Principe) and Samuel Santos (Timor-Leste).
100m MEN
COUNTRY ATHLETE MEDALS
Angola Osvaldo Morais Gold
Cape Verde Daniel Martins Silver
Angola Mauro Gaspar Bronze
100m WOMEN
COUNTRY ATHLETE MEDALS
Goa-India Archana Susentran Gold
Goa-India Ruma Sarkar Silver
Sri Lanka Jani Hondamuni Bronze
MEN’S HIGH JUMP
COUNTRY ATHLETE MEDALS
India Shankar Dhamdhay Gold
India Anik Naik Silver
Cape Verde Bruno Moniz Bronze
WOMEN’S HIGH JUMP
COUNTRY ATHLETE MEDALS
Goa-India N D Tintu Gold
Sri Lanka S Sooriyampola Silver
Goa-India Neena V Silver
SHOT PUT
COUNTRY ATHLETE MEDALS
Goa-India Hubert D’Costa Gold
Goa-India Ashwin Soares Silver
East Timor Dos Santos Bronze
1500m WOMEN
COUNTRY ATHLETE MEDALS
Mozambique Alberto Mamba Gold
Sri Lanka Chamal Hewage Silver
India Afsal Mohammed Bronze
1500m WOMEN
COUNTRY ATHLETE MEDALS
Goa-India P V Chitra Gold
Angola Felismina Silver
India Nitisha Gaonk Bronze
FRIDAY’S 400m QUALIFICATION
India Cassius Fernandes qualified for Friday’s
Cape Verde Izequiel Evora
Macau Ka Hou Ao Ieong
Sao Tome and Principe Alex Anjos
Timor-Leste Samuel Santos
Goa-India’s Danish Dias goes for the ball as her sister and partner Christie Dias watches, in their match against Sri Lankan pair of Asha Nilmini and Nirosha Gunasinghe, which the former lost 11-21, 21-23.
