Panaji: As the International Purple Fest Goa 2024 draws to a close on Saturday, the Purple Sports segment featured stunning action all-round with the para athletes putting up a spectacular show in the indoor as well as outdoor Sports events.
Seven-time National Champion, Kishan Gangolli keeps India in the hunt for the gold medal as the most decorated visually-impaired chess player in the country; has the sole lead at the ongoing International Chess Tournament for Visually-impaired at Dr.Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium.
Gangolli, who is also the Asian Champion, engaged in a quick draw against fellow countryman Marimuthu of Tamil Nadu to take his tally to 5 points at the end of sixth round on Friday. The seventh and final round will be played on Saturday.
Three other players are following the leader with 4.5 points each, that includes Magnusson Jorgen (Sweden), Patra Subhendu Kumar (India) and Kimsanboyev Axadxon (Uzbekistan).
Over at Don Bosco Oratory indoor hall in Panaji, the day-long Wheelchair Basketball tournament witnessed intense action with Karnataka emerging champions with a 29-12 triumph over Delhi in the final.
In a 5v5 match of 30 minutes duration with each half being 15 minutes, Karnataka dominated the proceedings right from the start. They led 12-4 at half time. Basappa Sunadholi was the top-scorer for Karnataka with 15 points to his name. The 28-year-old India Wheelchair Basketball Team-member was also named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. Pondicherry and hosts Goa also participated in the tournament.
Earlier in the league stage, Karnataka beat Goa 8-2; Delhi got the better of Pondicherry 14-12; Karnataka beat Pondicherry 19-7; Delhi defeated Goa 19-4.
Fisheries Minister Nilkanth Halarnkar was the chief guest and along with Deputy Speaker Joshua DSouza, gave away the prizes.
The third edition of IBFF South – West Zonal football tournament witnessed stirring action at the Don Bosco Oratory artificial turf arena. Hosts Goa went down to Kerala in the men’s and women’s matches by an identical scoreline of 2-0. In another match, Gujarat trounced Tamil Nadu 3-1.
The Unified Volleyball event drew to a close at Miramar beach with Goa clinching top position in men’s and women’s competition. Pondicherry finished second in men’s while Kerala were the runners-up in women’s category. The league event saw four teams play three matches each in men’s section while the 3-team women’s category meant each of the teams play two matches. Goa won all their matches in each category.
A recreation sport ‘Goalball’ was conducted at Dr KB Hedgewar HS at Cujira-Bambolim.
