PANJIM: Goa’s campaign at the National Games continued to court defeat as Vijay Vishwakurma, the 22- year-old walker who specialises in the 20 km and over finished sixth in the event. He clocked 1:34.01 sec well outside his personal best of 1: 28: 16 sec.
His coach Patrick Soares said sixth position achieved was good but the humidity put to his bid for a better position. Patrick added, “The course was in the University area. Vijay did very well and I expect him to improve in the Open Nationals next month in Bengaluru”. Vijay said, “The humidity and the weather in general got to me after 16 km. It was very hot. However I will admit the conditions were the same for all the athletes and the winners handled the conditions better. I cannot hide behind excuses”.
On Saturday, Goa’s women’s team will face off against Mizoram. Coach Mabel Mascarenhas expressed her confidence in the team. Mabel said, “We feel we will be able to beat Mizoram. We have good experienced players like Karishma Shivolkar and Michelle Castana in the team.”
The match will kick off at 9.30 am.
