Indian paddlers off to blazing start at Lusofonia Games 2014

Anthony Amalraj

The Indian mens and womens table tennis teams got off to a fine start at the table tennis event at the 3rd Lusofonia Games being held in Goa.

The Indian paddlers lived up to their favorites tag as the men’s team handed Angola a thrashing and the women’s team registered comfortable victories against Sri Lanka and Macau.

India, the top-seeds for the event, dispatched Angola 3-0 without being challenged. Anthony Amalraj gave India a great start when he beat Angola’s Quebuco Elisandro 3-0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-3) in barely 10 minutes. Harmeet Desai, runner-up at the recently concluded Senior Nationals, doubled India’s advantage with a 3-0 (11-3, 12-10, 11-7) win over Neto Advane. Soumyajit Ghosh had a minor hiccup midway but recovered quickly to seal India’s victory with a 3-1 (11-4, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8) scoreline against Antonio Allesion.

The women’s team too made their title aspirations clear by beating Sri Lanka 3-1 and handing Macau a 3-0 hammering. Madhurika Patkar, Ankita Das and K. Shamini ensured India sailed through their matches on Sunday with the only lip coming from Madhurika Patkar against Ishara Madurangi of Sri Lanka.

With only 5 teams – Portugal, Macau, Sri Lanka and Angola besides hosts India – in the fray in both sections, India will be looking to clinch gold and sweep the medals in the Table Tennis event.