Goa Sports News

Sports journalist, sports commentator, and author of several books on Indian sports, Boria Majumdar was in Goa for the 2019 edition of Goafest. NT GoGoaNow caught up with Boria to talk cricket. AUSTIN DIAS | NT GoGoaNow   This year’s IPL has seen matches go on till midnight. The slow over rates are affecting fans and journalists. Comment The most important constituency of the game is its fans. If a fan has to struggle to return home at 1 a.m. in the morning by paying four times the money for transport, if a journalist cannot write the match report as the deadline is over and his morning edition is gone, and the broadcaster cannot sell his inventory, it is unfair on them. Firstly, the BCCI has to play a greater role. There are two things that can be done. You can start matches at 7 p.m. and finish by 11.30 p.m. Secondly, penalising the erring captain on the basis of net run rate (NRR). If the penalisation is done by cutting down match fees the franchise will pay it off. If you want to hurt them use the NRR (net run rate) option. Eventually, when it comes down to the […]

To win a world championship once is no mean feat, but to win it six times is a herculean task. A testament to resilience, humility and empowerment six times World Amateur Boxing Champion Mary Kom was in conversation with sports journalist Boria Majumdar. Mary Kom opened up about her early life and her induction into boxing, the societal outlook towards women’s boxing, infrastructural challenges that she faced, etc. However, she spoke about how she kept at it without losing focus. Speaking of resilience and perseverance, Mary said, “Being a girl, it’s very difficult as women’s boxing is not introduced nationally as a sport. As a child, I used to get inspired by action movies of Jackie Chan and Akshay Kumar and always believed that if men can then why can’t women?” Speaking about the boxing scenario in India, Mary feels nothing has much change in the sport. “It is still the same. I am the same, boxing is the same. In the last seven years things have changed there have been facilities but what I see is that we don’t have champions. Only we have one two champions for so many years, there aren’t any new champions. I am not […]

Salgaocar FC Midfielder, Ribhav Sardesai has been selected for the India U-19 Football National team and is the only Goan in the national team. Ribhav, who is studying in the first year of the BBA course at MES College, Zuarinagar, recently represented the country in the four-nation U- 19 international football tournament held in Croatia. Post the four-nation tournament the team traveled for an exposure trip to Serbia in the month of September. In 2013, Ribhav donned the Indian national colors when he represented India U-14 for the AFC qualifiers, in Mashaad, Iran. In 2015, he represented India U-16 for the SAAF Cup (where India emerged runners-up) in Sylhet, Bangladesh. He also represented Goa in 2012 at the National Football festival organized by AIFF in Kalyani, West Bengal and in 2015 he represented Goa at the National School Games, Telangana where they emerged Champions.

Indian Super League (ISL) semifinalists FC Pune City will be the big attraction for Goan football lovers at the second edition of the AWES Cup, organised by Association for the Wellbeing of Elder Sportspersons (AWES) in collaboration with the Sports Authority of Goa (SAG) and Dempo Sports Club (Juniors), at Tilak Maidan, Vasco. The tournament kicks off on Tuesday, August 28 with a high-octane clash between defending champions Dempo Sports Club and FC Goa. All matches will kick off at 4 pm while the final on September 15 will be played under lights. Besides Dempo and FC Goa, the other Goan teams who will be seen in action include Goa Pro League champions Sporting Clube de Goa, Salgaocar FC and Sesa Football Academy. I-League side Gokulam FC from Kerala and Mumbai District Football Association (MDFA) League winners ONGC are returning for the second edition, while unlike the first season when Pune City sent their reserve squad, they will be here with their first team which will include high-profile foreign stars like the Brazilian striker Marcelinho, Uruguayan forward Emiliano Alfaro, and ISL’s highest goal scorer Iain Hume. Local lads Adil Khan, Keenan Almeida and Gabriel Fernandes will add to the Goan […]

“Sportsmen possess extraordinary talent which is nurtured through hard work, determination, and perseverance and with their resilience they can overcome most of the hurdles that are thrown up to them in life” said Director of Sports, V.M Prabhudessai while speaking at the book launch of “Sporting Legends of Goa” written by Ambey Parwatkar. Speaking about the book, Prabhudessai said that, “this book should be instrumental to inspire the younger generation by setting realistic examples of discipline, sportsmanship spirit, and teamwork, and also a must read for physical education teachers so that they can facilitate an environment where sports and education should co-exist together.” Also present for the occasion was former Indian Cricketer and Selector, Jatin Paranjpe who said that with the presence of social media which helps to address larger masses these days, the content writers should not just focus on the sportspersons who are already at their peak but also should shed light on the local sportspersons which might be useful for youngsters who are pursuing their career in sports. The book “Sporting Legends of Goa” written by Ambey Parwatkar features the sporting careers of Goan sportsperson which include the likes of; Hemant Angle, Bhramanand Sankhwalkar, Bruno Couthino, Sagun […]

“I hope to see at least eight teams from Asia including India in the 2026 FIFA World Cup,” said former India football captain Bhaichung Bhutia at the convocation ceremony of SESA Football Academy’s graduating students of batch 2014-2018, held at ICG, Dona Paula on Friday. “When we recently had a meeting with the AIFF to discuss football at the grassroots in India, we found a major difference between us and countries like Spain, England, Portugal, and others. The kids in India of 12-14 age group have a game experience of around 15-30 games, whereas the kids from those countries have a game experience of around 150 games by the age of 14,” said Annanya Agarwal, president of Sesa Football Academy. “Currently, in Rajasthan, we have 60 centers where we provide coaching to around 2500 boys and girls. There are also residential academies with technological infrastructure which will facilitate the growth of the player,” said Agarwal. The 15 students of the 2014-18 batch who were felicitated were: Ashley Cardozo, Kanta Dravin, Sunil Mandrekar, Dhiraj Chauhan, Vighnesh Shetgaonkar, Vishnu Gosavi, Kunal Salgaonkar, Cyrus Canvi Noronha, Dylan Fernandes, Malcolm Gonsalves, Cavin Soares, Lionel D’souza, Mark Barreto, Anil Chawan, Gaunkar Camilo and Rocky Fernandes. […]

Goa Football Association (GFA) has announced that it will be conducting a Referees New Entrants course in the third week of June. Those interested can log on to www.the-aiff.com.

Ahead of the fifth season of the Hero Indian Super League, FC Goa has announced the ‘Gaur Memberships’. The programme aims to bring fans of the club together and offers members a variety of benefits throughout the season. It is divided into four distinct tiers – Digital, Platinum, Elite and Junior membership. FC Goa will launch its Digital membership soon and fans can log on to www.fcgoa.in to sign up for free, says the press release.

Group D- Argentina, Iceland, Croatia, Nigeria Well, this is where it starts getting interesting yet complicated. Argentina, Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria, a group with a lot to offer in terms of their football style and tales of emotions involved in a build-up to the fixtures of this group. With the kind of matches lined up in this group, even the predictions made by football pundits ahead of the start of World Cup might even go wrong. A Mario Gotze winner in the extra time of the 2014 WC final in Brazil prolonged the Argentinean dream of their 3rd World Cup title much further. To add more misery to the World Cup final loss against Germany, Chile inflicted Argentina with two consecutive finale losses in La Copa America and a series of failures to clinch the titles also pushed Lionel Messi into brief retirement. If it was not for Messi’s hat-trick against Ecuador in their last World Cup qualifier game, Argentina would have missed the flight to Russia. A forward line which includes Paulo Dybala, Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain should propel ‘La Albiceleste’ into next round. With Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria breathing down their neck and mediocre show […]

Group C– France, Peru, Denmark, Australia Didier Deschamps who captained France to World Cup glory in 1998 will be looking to add another star on the crest. After missing out on the Euro 2016 title, where France ended up as runner-ups, Deschamps will be eager to better out the World Cup prospects of France come June 14. Pitted in group C alongside Peru, Denmark, and Australia, France starts out as clear favorites. Top players such as Manchester United’s– Anthony Martial, Arsenal’s –Alexandre Lacazette and Real Madrid’s– Karim Benzema failed to make into Deschamps 23-man World Cup squad. If France is to go the distance in this World Cup than the likes of Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele, and Kylian Mbappe will have to go all guns blazing up-front. With an all-around performance in their 3-1 win over Italy in a friendly encounter last week and with Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele and Samuel Umitti getting on the score sheet, the ‘Les Bleus’ showed why they are tipped as one of the tournament favorites. With France likely to take the top stop, the competition will intensify with Peru and Denmark vying for the second spot in the group. The Peru National team hit […]

Vinsan World along with Strongman India presents ‘Strongman India League1’, for the first time in Goa. The Strongman India league is the biggest strength challenge known internationally and is now making a massive impact in Goa. The event aims at promoting talent from all across the country in the sphere of power weightlifting which will take place on May 25 at Miramar Beach. Strongman India is the sanctioning by Strongman India League and governing body for the sports of professional strongman internationally. Indian athletes, in this case, are given a platform to showcase their level of fitness at numerous events that are held across the country on an annual basis, Amateur to Professional athletes is given an opportunity to participate and earn their professional status. The event will be first one of its kinds to be held in Goa with playoffs on games like Viking Press, Car Dead Lift, Atlas Stone, Frame Carry, Loading Race in the Men’s Category and Crucifix, Car Dead Lift, Stone Over Bar and Log Lift in the Women’s Category. The Goa event finalist will further get a chance to participate at the Strongman Champions League in Finland. The Finland event will be followed by Strongman […]

The Indian U-16 football team pumped in as many as three goals in the first 10 minutes of the match to outplay Tajikistan 4-2 and emerge champions in the four-nation Under-16 Tournament held in Serbia. Putting up an impressive show, the Indian U-16 football team drew 0-0 with the hosts, defeated Jordan 2-1 before beating Tajikistan in the final. The Indian boys took lead in the fifth minute when Gibson lobbed the ball over the opposing custodian. Two minutes later, Sailo took advantage of a scramble inside the opposition box and doubled the lead. India tripled their lead in the ninth minute when Shabaj slotted the ball home to make the scoreline read 3-0 in less than ten minutes. Tajikistan started to fight back and in the 12th minute pulled a goal back courtesy of a penalty kick. In the 15th minute, Tajikistan found the Indian net once again to make the scoreline read 3-2. In the 66th minute, Ricky’s through ball found Rohit Danu and the latter bundled the ball home to give India a two-goal lead cushion. The full-time scoreline read the same as India finished their campaign unbeaten in three matches, accumulating seven points out of a […]

FC Goa, in association with the Forca Goa Foundation, will be launching the FC Goa Soccer School’s initiative from April 20 onwards. Head of Youth Development, Derrick Pereira has curated a special coaching plan for the programme which will focus on developing the technical ability as well as the overall understanding of the game for children. The programme aims to help the development of the sport in Goa by igniting interest in children to start learning and playing the sport at an early age. During the course of the programme, the children will also have the opportunity to meet, interact and be inspired by the First Team players of the FC Goa Squad. In addition, they will get to take home FC Goa branded football and customized FC Goa Soccer School kits. The venues for this camp will be; North Goa–Sangolda Panchayat Ground and South Goa– Raia Panchayat Ground. (To register for this camp, visit the FC Goa online portal or head on over to Champs Store in Panaji or Margao, or the FC Goa house in Porvorim.)

The Indian contingent accumulated a total of 11 medals on Day 9 of the CWG at Gold Coast but had to leave disappointed as the Indian Men’s hockey team went down 3-2 to New Zealand in the semis and now will be fighting for the Bronze on Saturday. Earlier in the day, Indian shooter Anish Bhanwala, aged 15, etched his name in the history books as he became the country’s youngest ever gold medal winner in the Commonwealth Games. Along with the Gold, Anish also shot down the Games record in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol event in the final with a score of 30 including four series of 5 each. By winning the Gold, Anish bettered the efforts of Manu Bhaker, who had become the youngest Indian Commonwealth Games gold medalist earlier this week when she emerged champion in the 10m Pistol shooting finals. While Shooters Tejaswini Sawant and Anjum Moudgil won Gold and Silver respectively in the Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions event, Tejaswini registered a new Games record with 457.9 points to take the title Anjum scored 455.7 points for Silver. The wrestling medal rush continued for India as, Bajrang Punia put up a spirited performance […]

Indian shooter Shreyasi Singh produced a brilliant shot to beat Australia’s Emma Cox to clinch a gold medal in women’s double trap event at the Commonwealth Games in Australia on Wednesday. Shreyasi shot 96 and was tied with Cox in the final round and claimed the top honors in style by beating the Australian in the shoot-off. Shreyasi and Emma were tied at 96 after four rounds which led them to the shoot-off. The Indian hit the target twice while Emma failed to hit one out of the two shots she got, while India’s Varsha Varman, who was in medal contention till the last round, finished fourth with 86. Whereas in Men’s double trap event Ankur Mittal had to settle for the bronze medal. In the 50m men’s pistol event Om Mitharwal clinched the bronze medal, while Jitu Rai, the other Indian who was in the fray in the 50m event, and one of the favorites for gold had to bow out early after having a disastrous final round. The Indian hockey team registered a 4-3 comeback victory over England to finish on top of Pool B. With this win India has avoided a semi-final clash with the defending CWG […]

The Goa State Fire Department will be organising the second edition of Goa Fire Run 2018 which will be held on April 15 at 5 a.m. The event will comprise of 21 km and 10 km timed runs and a 5 km fun run distance challenges. The starting point for all three categories will be from the from fire training ground. The 21 km half marathon will start at 5 a.m. from fire training ground to Caranzalem park (via Bal Bhavan) to Captain of Ports Office to Caranzalem park and back to fire station. The participants who will be taking part in the 10 km run will have to run from fire force training ground to Carazalem park (via Bal Bhavan) to Kala Academy and return back to fire station, the 10 km run will commence at 5:30 am. Similarly the route for 5 km run starts from the fire station to Serenity/Shalom apartment and back to fire station, the 5 km run will commence at 7:30 a.m. A cash prize of Rs 10,000, Rs 5,000 and Rs 3,000 will be awarded to those winning the first three places respectively in 21km and 10km running categories. While t-shirt, medal, and […]