Natasha Palha - Complete Career Tournament/Match Statistics

(updated 29th April 2008)

Singles Win/Loss Record - 29/3
Doubles Win/Loss Record - 15/4
Ranking - No 1 in Asia Under 14s (as per rankings released on 3rd April )

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Natasha Palha has been drafted into the ITF under-14 team for tournaments in France, Netherlands, Germany and Belgium, from July 7 2008 to August 9 2008. The other players are Ronit Bisht, Digvijay Singh Mehta and Rashmi Teltumbe.

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U-16 Asia-Oceania Qualifying Tournament ,
Shenzen,
21-27 April 2008
Representing India

Quarterfinals - v/s Australia
Lost to Molly Polak (Australia) 1-6, 2-6
India lost 1-2.

League Match - v/s Singapore
beat Julienne Keong 6-2, 6-0
India won 3-0

League Match - v/s Malaysia
beat Theiviya Selvarajoo 6-2, 6-0

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Asian Tennis Federation 14 & Under Series,
Jakarta, Indonesia
20-30 March 2008

Singles
Bye
Beat Carmen Lai (Hong Kong) 6-1, 7-5
Lost to Budsarin Raktaengam (Thailand) 0-6, 2-6

Doubles - (Partnering - So Dam Park of South Korea)
Beat Khwanthithi Bhantao (Thailand)/ Aldila Sutjiadi (Indonesia) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
Beat Shannine Olivarez (Philippines)/Sally Mae Siso (Philippines) 6-4, 6-4
Lost to Vaidehi Bhagwat (India)/ Prarthana Thombre (India) 4-6, 6-7

===========================

On conclusion of the year long Asian U/14 Series sponsored by Australian Open, top ranked eight Boys & Girls each were selected to go to Australia accompanied with the team's coach Mr Arun Kumar to play the ATF 14/U Series Masters Finals. It was held in Melbourne, Australia from 11- 13 Jan 2008. Master Jung Ki-Su (KOR) and THOMBARE Prathanana (IND) were crowned the Asian U/14 champions in Boys' & Girl's category respectively.

Tournament Format

Eight players were divided into two groups in the Round Robin Draw. Each player played three other players within there respective pools, best two players from each pool moved forward into crossover semifinals. There were Playoffs for three to eight position also.

Natasha Palha stood 5th out of the 8 girls.

The final rankings are as follows -
Winner - Thombare Prathanana (India)
Finalist - Bhagvat Vaidehi (India)
3rd - Guba Martina Jonica (Phillippines)
4th - Palha Natasha (India)
5th - Bal Namita (India)
6th - Wijesinghe Sherene (Sri Lanka)
7th - Boey Adelle Chai Yan (Malaysia)
8th - Bhargava Anushka (India)


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Asian Tennis Federation 14 & Under Series,
Manama, Bahrain
19-23 November 2007

Singles
Bye
Beat Azza Al Hinai (Oman) 6-0, 6-0
Beat Diala Jamaleddin (Syria) 6-0, 6-0
Beat Vaidehi Bhagwat (India) 6-2, 6-0
FINAL Beat Jonicka Guba (Philippines) 6-3, 7-5

Doubles - (Partnering - Namita Bal of India)
Bye
Beat Diala Jamaleddin (Syria)/Mehek Khokar (Pakistan) 6-1, 6-1
Beat Adelle Boey (Malaysia)/Jonicka Guba (Philippines) 3-6, 7-5, 10/8
FINAL Beat Vaidehi Bhagwat (India)/Anushka Bhargava (India) 6-3, 2-6, 10/4

===========================

Riffa Cup
Manama, Bahrain
12-16 November 2007

Singles
Bye
Beat Nicolette Wolny (USA) 7-5, 6-4
Beat Jonicka Guba (Philippines) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
Beat Arzoo Malik (India) 6-1, 6-2
FINAL Beat Natasha Rizvi (USA) 7-6, 6-4

Doubles - (Partnering - Anushka Bhargava of India)
Bye
Beat Chandler Beachy (USA)/Nadia Al-fardan (Bahrain) 6-0, 6-0
Lost to Arzoo Malik (India)/Nicolette Wolny (USA) 2-6, 7-6

===========================

Asian Tennis Federation 14 & Under Series,
Chandigarh, India
29 October 2007

Singles
Beat Ayushi Singh (India) 6-0, 6-0
Beat Shreya Pasricha (India) 6-0, 6-0
Beat Harnoor Kaur Mann (India) 6-2, 6-2
Beat Arzoo Malik (India) 6-2, 6-2
FINAL Beat Vaidehi Bhagwat (India) 6-4, 6-7, 6-4

Doubles - (Partnering - Vaidehi Bhagwat of India)
Bye
Beat Nithya Raj (India)/Saranya Verma (India) 4-0, 4-1
Beat Nikitha Shetty (India)/Arzoo Malik (India) 6-0, 6-0
FINAL Beat Zainab Sajjad Ali (India)/Anushka Bhargava (India) 6-0, 6-4

===========================

Asian Tennis Federation 14 & Under Series,
Amman, Jordan
9-13 July 2007

Singles
Bye
Beat Diala Jamal El Deen (Syria) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
Beat Riddhi Hegde (India) 6-3, 6-0
Beat Vaidehi Bhagwat (India) 6-1, 5-7, 6-4
FINAL Lost to Prarthana Thombare (India) 4-6, 7-6, 5-7

Doubles - (Partnering - Namita Bal of India)
Beat Diana Maki (Syria)/Diala Jamal El Deen (Syria) 6-6, 6-3
Beat Vaidehi Bhagwat (India)/Prarthana Thombre (India) 6-3, 7-6
FINAL Beat Yasodara Karunaratne (Sri Lanka)/Sherene Wijesingh (Sri Lanka) 6-2, 6-0


===========================

Asian Tennis Federation 14 & Under Series,
Damascus, Syria
2-6 July 2007

Singles
Beat Kiet Alsadi (Syria) 7-6,6-2
Beat Diala Jamal El Deen (Syria) 6-2, 6-1
Beat Sherene Wijesingh (Sri Lanka) 6-1, 6-1
Beat Namita Bal (India) 7-5, 6-3
FINAL Beat Prarthana Thombare (India) 6-3, 6-3

Doubles - (Partnering - Namita Bal of India)
Lost to Diana Maki (Syria)/Kim Alsadi (Syria) 6-7, 4-6

===========================

PYC Asian Tennis Federation U-14 SERIES
May 2007, Pune

Singles
Beat Pooja Narayana (India) 6-1, 6-3
Beat Urmila Gunuganti (India) 6-0, 6-1
Beat Namita Bal (India) 6-3, 6-7, 7-6
Beat Zainab Ali Sajjad (India) 6-4, 6-4
FINAL Beat Ankita Raina (India) 6-0, 6-0

Doubles - (Partnering - Namita Bal of India)
Beat Aishwarya Nunes (India)/B Ekta Singh (India) 6-1, 6-1
Beat Shruti Jaiswal (India)/Zainab Ali Sajjad (India) 6-1, 6-2
Beat Teertha Iska (India)/Ravina Shetty (India) 6-1, 1-6, 6-2
FINAL Beat Vaidehi Bhagwat (India)/Prarthana Thombre (India) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4

Table Tennis Internationals of Goan origin

WOMEN

1) Jane Pinto for Kenya
2) Connie De Souza for Kenya
3) Gladys De Souza for Kenya
4) Dolly Pereira for Uganda


MEN

1) Michael Rodrigues for Pakistan in 1960
2) Joe De Souza for Kenya
3) Henry Braganza for Kenya
4) Blaise de Cunha for Kenya
5) Anthony Mathias for Uganda
6) Hildebrand Fernandes for Uganda
7) Canute Mathias for Uganda

Rowing Internationals from Goa

1) Michael Louzado, represented Great Britain at rowing between 1995 and 1999. Won a Gold medal in 1995 Nations Cup in Holland.

International cricketers for non-test playing countries of Goan origin

Cricketers of Goan origin who have played international cricket

MALAWI
- Jack Britto from 1954 onwards

TANGANYIKA
- Alban Fernandes 1955-1961
- Armand "Chic" Saldanha (was the 12th man)

UGANDA
- Michael D'Sa
- Peter D'Souza 1960-64
- Charlie D'Souza 1954-71
- Lawrence Fernandes 1967-72
- Michael P Texeira 1954-60
- Edwin Fernandes 1953-55
- John Sequeira 1954-58
- Aloysius Mathias 1958-65
- Felix De Mello 1960-68
- Celly Dias 1955-69
- Carlito Mascarenhas 1960-69
- Lawrence Dias 1968-70

ITALY
- Massimo Da Costa for Italy 1996- onwards

CANADA
- Marshall D'Souza 1967-1975

KENYA
- CM Gracias 1946-47
- Blaise D'Cunha 1957-58

BOTSWANA
- Denzil Kenan Sequeira 2006 - current


===============================================

Rugby Internationals of Goan origin

Davinia Monteiro - England U-20 Women's team

Asian Schools Chess Championships - Kandy (Sri Lanka) in Jan 2008

In the Boys Under 11 section, Cyrus Pereira created
history by becoming the first Goan boy to win a medal
at the International level. Cyrus finished with 6.5 out
of a possible 8 points and was tied with Iran's Saleh Mirza.
Cyrus, by virtue of his rating, started as the second seed,
and Saleh Mirza was clearly the hot favourite as he had
beaten former World Champion Sahej Grover in the World
Youth Championships which were conducted last year in
Turkey. Nevertheless, Cyrus fought hard to get a draw in the
last round with Mirza and thus he got a Gold medal in his
very first attempt at the Asian Schools Championships.

In the Girls Under 9 section, double World Under 8 Girls
Champion Ivana Furtado tied with Sri Lanka's J. Jayaranthna
with 6.5 points each out of a possible 7 points. As they
had drawn their individual encounter and were tied on tie-break
as well, both the girls were declared joint winners and given a
Gold medal each.

More at http://GoanChess.blogspot.com

Bhakti Kulkarni at the World Youth Chess 2007, Antalya Turkey

Bhakti Kulkarni (ELO 2112) in the Under 16 Category

1st Round - beat (Unrated) Salama Al Khelaifi of Qatar
2nd Round - beat Berfu Dincok (ELO 1945) of Turkey
3rd Round - drew with Abby Marshall (ELO 2208) of the United States
4th Round - lost to Katrina Skinke (ELO 2166) of Latvia
5th Round - beat Amisha Parmar (ELO 2007) of England
6th Round - drew with Li Panru (ELO 2030) of China
7th Round - beat Valerie Forgues (ELO 1963) of France
8th Round - lost to Olka Ivanenko (ELO 2125) of Ukraine
9th Round - lost to Jovana Vojinovic (ELO 2227) of Montenegro
10th Round - lost to (Unrated) Valeria Kim of Kyrgyzstan
11th Round - drew with Lin Jine Jorgensen (ELO 1861) of Norway

Stood 45th overall out of 106 contestants

Bhakti had stood 8th in the Under-14 at the World Youth Chess 2006 in Batumi, Georgia.

Ivana Furtado at the World Youth Chess 2007, Antalya Turkey

Match by Match results

Ivana Furtado in the Under 8 Category

1st Round - beat Samantha Revita Glo of The Philippines
2nd Round - beat Helin Melek Saim of Turkey
3rd Round - beat P Preethy of India
4th Round - Narmin Mammadova of Azerbaijan
5th Round - lost to C. H. Meghna of India
6th Round - drew with Anastasia Ponmarchuk of Russia
7th Round - beat Anastasia Sialenchyk of Belarus
8th Round - beat Buse Vatansever of Turkey
9th Round - beat Thanh Thuy Tien Nguyen of Vietnam
10th Round - beat Gunay Mammadzada of Azerbaijan
11th Round - drew with Zhansaya Abdumalik of Kazakhstan

Stood 1st overall out of 73 contestants. Thus, she successfully defended her World Championship title.
==============================

Ivana Furtado was the defending champion as she had stood 1st in the Under-8 at the World Youth Chess 2006 in Batumi, Georgia

Talasha Prabhu - Achievements at the international level

Talasha has been selected for the Indian Swim Team for the Commonwealth Youth Games 2008 in Pune, India from 12th to 18th October 2008.

======================================

At her first ever international meet in Pakistan, Talasha Prabhu swam her way to the gold in the 50 m freestyle in the U-14 category at the first South Asian Aquatic Championship at Islamabad held in September 2007 clocking a personal best of 29.04 in her first ever international meet.

FIDE Rated Players from Goa - October 2007

Four more Goans - Agasti Tari, Brahmanand Kamat, M. Harikrishnan and
Rakshith Rai - made it to the FIDE rating list which was released on October
1, 2007. This reflects the growing popularity of chess with the youngsters
in Goa as they are now performing well in the Open tournaments
and earning a name for themselves and the State.

Goan chess also celebrated the success of Anurag Mhamal and Umang Kaisary
whose ratings improved by 33 points and 67 points respectively. Whereas
Umang dazzled in Mangalore with a 2093 performance, Anurag essayed a
brilliant 2203 performance in the National 'B' conducted at Dindigul, Tamil
Nadu.

Among the active players the gap between Woman FIDE Master Bhakti Kulkarni
and Anurag Mhamal has narrowed to just 20 points though it must be mentioned
that Bhakti will be gaining 61 ELO points for her performance in the
National Junior Championship which will be reflected in the January 2008
rating list.

Some of the important ratings are as follows -


J. Venkata Ramana 2168
Mandar Tahmankar 2141
Bhakti Kulkarni 2112
Swapnil Hobble 2105
Anurag Mhamal 2092
Suhas Asnodkar 2031
Shubham Pinge 2012
Sumit Asnodkar 1999
P.M. Kantak 1990
Niraj Saripalli 1967
Standrik Colaso 1957
Sanjay Kavlekar 1947
Celianne Carvalho 1926
A. Malwankar 1914
Umang Kaisary 1889
Prasanna Swamy 1884
Nandhini Saripalli 1876
Keegan Furtado 1870
Shradha Mohanan 1857
Cyrus Perreira 1845
V. Siva Swamy 1820
Pranav Zantye 1795
Anuradha Chavan 1766

New entrants
Agasti Tari 1875
Brahmanand Kamat 1747
M. Harikrishnan 1730
Rakshith Rai 1656

Recent top rating performances by Goan players

1. Commonwealth, November 2006 - 2328 Bhakti Kulkarni (9 games)
2. National Junior Girls 2007 - 2220 Bhakti Kulkarni (10 games)
3. National B 2006 - 2203 Anurag Mhamal (12 games)
4. Sangli, May 2007 - 2176 Anurag Mhamal (8 games)
5. Rochess, December 2006 - 2162 Anurag Mhamal (7 games)
6. Sangli, December 2006 - 2157 Anurag Mhamal (8 games)
6. Mangalore 2007 - 2093 Umang Kaisary (7 games)


SOURCE: Sameer Salgaocar - President, Goa State Chess Association at The Goan Chess Blog

Tennis ball cricket internationals - 2007

Represented India in the tennis ball cricket series against Sri Lanka in Chennai from October 6-9, 2007

Women :
Sharon Dias
Shikha Pandey
Sharmila Naik

Men :
Haresh Parsekar
Hemant Khot
Amey Parab
Coach - Nilesh Naik

Talasha Prabhu swims to glory...

Talasha Prabhu swam her way to gold in the 50 m freestyle in the U-14 category at the first South Asian Aquatic Championship at Islamabad-Pakistan held in September 2007 clocking a personal best of 29.04 in her first ever international meet.

Ivana bags gold at Asian Chess in Al Ain

World Under 8 Girls Champion Ivana Furtado won the U-8 category at the Asian Youth Chess Championships held in Al Ain, U.A.E. from August 22-31.

With this victory, Ivana notched 8 out of possible 9 points to record her first Gold Medal in the Asian Youth Championships. She becomes thus the youngest Indian to have bagged both the World and the Asian Championships - another feat for the Limca Book of records! She will look to make it three in a row when she participates in the Commonwealth Championships to be held in New Delhi in December this year.

SOURCE - Sameer Salgaocar President, Goa Chess Association

Bhakti bags silver at U-16 Asian Chess

Goa's Woman FIDE Master Bhakti Kulkarni (ELO 2112)
added yet another feather in her cap by winning the
Silver medal in the Asian Girls Under 16 Chess
Championships which concluded in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Bhakti registered a performace rating of 2087 and should
be earning herself 16 ELO Rating points as well as a bonus!

Last year's Commonwealth Girls Under 18 Gold medallist
Bhakti started off the tournament terribly by losing
in the first and third rounds. However, she recovered
superbly thereafter winning the next six on the trot
and beating the top seed and hot favourite WIM Padmini
Rout (ELO 2246) as well as strong contender WFM Pon.
N. Krithika (ELO 2122) in the process. The first place was bagged by
Nakhbayeva Guliskhan (ELO 2024) of Kazakhstan whereas
Padmini had to remain content with the Bronze medal.

Bhakti thus gets the unique distinction of having won three
medals in three consecutive Asian Championships. She won the
Bronze in New Delhi in 2005, the Gold in Teheran in 2006 before
completing her treble in Tashkent this year. Bhakti also has won the
Commonwealth Under 18 Girls Gold medal in Mumbai in 2006
to cement her place as flagbearer of Goan chess.

She will be received in New Delhi on her return by her parents and
AICF Vice President and GSCA President Sameer A. Salgaocar.
The last mentioned stated that this was a proud day in the history of Goan
sports and that Bhakti, her coach Dronacharya Awardee Raghunandan
Gokhale and parents should be lauded for their efforts!

Round 1 - lost to Gulruhsor Esonboeva of Uzbekistan
Round 2 - beat Hulkar Tohirjanova (ELO 1923) of Uzbekistan
Round 3 - lost to Guliskhan Nakhbayeva (ELO 2024) of Kazakhstan
Round 4 - beat Maftuna Khidirova of Uzbekistan
Round 5 - beat Mekhrangez Rakhmatova of Tajikistan
Round 6 - beat Thamina Turdialieva (ELO 1931) of Uzbekistan
Round 7 - beat Padmini Rout (ELO 2246) of India
Round 8 - beat Krithika Pon (ELO 2122) of India
Round 9 - beat Maftuna Orzikulova of Uzbekistan

Final Ranking - Second among 19 contestants. A full report on the tournament
is available at the following link - http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3995

Courtesy - http://GoanChess.blogspot.com

Junior boys at International Soccer Clubs/Academies

Shallum Pires and Arnold Cardoso trained at the FC Porto Academy for a month accompanied by youth coach Lino Pereira.

Joshuah Vaz - trained at an academy allied to Clube Vitoria de Guimaraes in Guimaraes, Portugal for 5 months from Feb to July 2007. He then went back to the same club in Sept 2007 for a 10 months stint. He will be joined by Dawson Fernandes, Aiken Dias and brother Charlton Vaz for the longer stint at Clube Vitoria.

Paul Soares - plays for U-16 team of Excelsior Vitron, a second division club in Belgium.

List of Goan Internationals in Soccer (Men)

=============================

Here is a list of Goans who have represented the Indian National Soccer Team along with the year of their first match.

Note1 - the first Goan to have played for India, representing Goa, is Menino Figuereido who represented India on a goodwill tour of Russia in 1963. This tour was not considered an official tour and some say the first Goan to have represented India thus becomes Visitacao Lobo in 1970. Whichever way you look at it, both Menino Figuereido and Visitacao Lobo have played for India

Note 2 - Much before 19th December 1961, the day Goa was liberated, Goans had made a mark in Indian football. Many represented India when playing in Bombay and shining at the club level and thus earning international caps. In the list below, i am including the names of Goans who went on to play for India whilst plying their trade in Bombay and other parts of India as well

1) Neville Stephen D'Souza - 1953 (Bombay)
2) Fortunato Franco - 1960 (Bombay)
3) Deryk D'Souza - 1960 (Bombay)
4) Menino Figueireido - 1963
5) Marto Gracias - 1967 (Bombay)
6) Andrew D'Souza - 1968
7) Visitacao Lobo - 1970
8) Ramesh Redkar - 1973
9) Nicholas Pereira - 1973
10) Bernard Pereira - 1973
11) Brahmanand Shankhwalkar - 1976
12) Prakash Naik - 1977
13) Armando Colaco - 1977
14) Francis D'Souza - 1978
15) Anthony Rebello - 1982
16) Jose D'Souza - 1983
17) Camilo Gonsalves - 1983
18) Bento Andrew - 1983
19) Mahesh Lotlikar - 1983
20) Chandrakant Naik - 1984
21) Mauricio Afonso - 1984
22) Arnold Rodrigues - 1984
23) Anthony D'Souza - 1984
24) Ashok Fadte - 1984
25) Ignatius Dias - 1984
26) Derrick Pereira - 1984
27) Savio Madeira - 1987
28) Lawrence Gomes - 1987
29) Johnny Araujo - 1987
30) Lector Mascarenhas - 1989
31) Norbert Gonsalves - 1989
32) Mario Soares - 1989
33) Bruno Coutinho - 1991
34) Roy Barretto - 1992
35) Francis Silveira - 1993
36) Roberto Fernandes - 1996
37) Francis Coelho - 1996
38) Franky Barretto - 1997
39) Jules Alberto - 1999
40) Mahesh Gawli - 1999
41) Anthony Pereira - 2000
42) Roque Barretto - 2000
43) Alvito D'Cunha - 2001
44) Alex Ambrose - 2002
45) Samir Naik - 2002
46) Selwyn Fernandes - 2003
47) Climax Lawrence - 2003
48) Felip Gomes - 2005
49) Bibiano Fernandes - 2005
50) Clifford Miranda - 2005
51) Micky Fernandes - 2006
52) Fredy Mascarenhas - 2006


Note 3: The following have represented Indian junior national teams in age-group tournaments but not represented the senior national team
1) Seby Antao in 1988 for India u-19
2) Alex Alvares in 1991 for India U-21
3) Victor Lobo in 1995 for India U-23
4) Melwyn Rodrigues in 1998 for India u-21
5) Covan Lawrence in 1998 for India U-19
6) Milagrio Madeira in 2001 for India U-19
7) Denzil Franco in 2003 for India U-19
8) Godwin Franco in 2003 for India U-19
9) Garry D'Mello in 2004 for India U-19
10) Marcelino Dias in 2004 for India U-18
11) Joaquim Abranches in 2006 for India U-23
12) Beevan D'Mello in 2006 for India U-20
13) Branco Vincent Cardozo - (TFA Jamshedpur) in 2006 played for India U-19
14) Shallum Pires in 2006 for India U-14
15) Lavino Fernandes in 2006 for India U-20
16) Valeriano Rebello in 2005 for India U-23
17) Bernard Pires in 2005 for India U-23
18) Suhas Gaonkar
19) Sarto Baptista
20) Anthony Baptista
21) Suhas Walke
22) Clifton Gonsalves in 2005 for India U-20
23) Terence Lobo in 2005 for India U-20
24) Laxmikant Kuttimani in 2005 for India U-20
25) Steven Fernandes in 2005 for India U-20
26) Joshuah Vaz in 2005 for India U-16
27) Shilton Eusebio Fernandes in 2007 for India U-13
28) Jesmon Joannes Carvalho in 2007 for India U-13
29) Brandon Fernandes in 2007 for India U-13

Note 4: The following have played for India Schools only and not for any other junior national team.
1) Inacio Fernandes
2) Casmiro Palha
3) Joaquim Palha
4) Michael Gomes
5) Domnic D'Souza


Note 5: The following players may/may not have a Goa connection.
1) Joaquim Barretto - (Maharashtra) 1974 played for India U-19
2) Thomas Fernandes - 1978
3) Henry Menezes - (Maharashtra) 1986
4) Jose D'Silva - 1986
5) Anthony D'Souza - 1987
6) Flavio Leitao - 1991
7) Evaristo Cardozo - (Maharashtra) 1991
8) Jacinto D'Silva - (Maharashtra) 1991
9) Jeevan Moraes - (Maharashtra) 1997
10) Steven Dias - (Maharashtra) 2006
11) Reuben D'Souza - (Maharashtra) India U-23 2006
12) Lester Fernandes - (TFA Jamshedpur) India U-19 2006
13) Faizal Martin - India U-19 2006

Note 6:
Brahmanand Shankhwalkar, Bruno Coutinho, Mauricio Afonso and Roberto Fernandes have captained the Indian senior national team.

Seby Antao and Lawrence Gomes have captained the junior Indian national team.

Shilton Eusebio Fernandes has captained the India U-13 team in 2007.

World Beach Soccer Qualifiers

The following players represented India at the Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup qualifiers at Mamzar Beach (Dubai). This was India's first experience of the qualifying rounds of the World beach soccer tournament. They were drawn with UAE and Japan.

Bruno Coutinho (capt), Dominic D’Souza, Anthony Pereira, Seby Dias, Remy Colaco, Augustino Rodrigues, Venancio Gonsalves, Seby D’Costa, Thomas Alex, Elvis Pereira
Coach : Edwin Lowen (Germany)

Games:

August 14 : United Arab Emirates 6-2 India
Goals Anthony Levino Pereira, Venancio Gonsalves

August 15 : Japan 4-3 India
Goals 2 - Venancio Gonsalves, Bruno Coutinho.

Natasha Palha - Factfile for 2007

Date of Birth : - 17th January 1994
Singles Win/Loss Record - 26/1
Doubles Win/Loss Record - 13/3

===========================

PYC Asian Tennis Federation U-14 SERIES
May 2007, Pune

Singles
Beat Pooja Narayana (India) 6-1, 6-3
Beat Urmila Gunuganti (India) 6-0, 6-1
Beat Namita Bal (India) 6-3, 6-7, 7-6
Beat Zainab Ali Sajjad (India) 6-4, 6-4
FINAL Beat Ankita Raina (India) 6-0, 6-0

Doubles - (Partnering - Namita Bal of India)
Beat Aishwarya Nunes (India)/B Ekta Singh (India) 6-1, 6-1
Beat Shruti Jaiswal (India)/Zainab Ali Sajjad (India) 6-1, 6-2
Beat Teertha Iska (India)/Ravina Shetty (India) 6-1, 1-6, 6-2
FINAL Beat Vaidehi Bhagwat (India)/Prarthana Thombre (India) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4

===========================

Asian Tennis Federation 14 & Under Series,
Damascus, Syria
2-6 July 2007

Singles
Beat Kiet Alsadi (Syria) 7-6,6-2
Beat Diala Jamal El Deen (Syria) 6-2, 6-1
Beat Sherene Wijesingh (Sri Lanka) 6-1, 6-1
Beat Namita Bal (India) 7-5, 6-3
FINAL Beat Prarthana Thombare (India) 6-3, 6-3

Doubles - (Partnering - Namita Bal of India)
Lost to Diana Maki (Syria)/Kim Alsadi (Syria) 6-7, 4-6

===========================

Asian Tennis Federation 14 & Under Series,
Amman, Jordan
9-13 July 2007

Singles
Bye
Beat Diala Jamal El Deen (Syria) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
Beat Riddhi Hegde (India) 6-3, 6-0
Beat Vaidehi Bhagwat (India) 6-1, 5-7, 6-4
FINAL Lost to Prarthana Thombare (India) 4-6, 7-6, 5-7

Doubles - (Partnering - Namita Bal of India)
Beat Diana Maki (Syria)/Diala Jamal El Deen (Syria) 6-6, 6-3
Beat Vaidehi Bhagwat (India)/Prarthana Thombre (India) 6-3, 7-6
FINAL Beat Yasodara Karunaratne (Sri Lanka)/Sherene Wijesingh (Sri Lanka) 6-2, 6-0

===========================

Asian Tennis Federation 14 & Under Series,
Chandigarh, India
29 October 2007

Singles
Beat Ayushi Singh (India) 6-0, 6-0
Beat Shreya Pasricha (India) 6-0, 6-0
Beat Harnoor Kaur Mann (India) 6-2, 6-2
Beat Arzoo Malik (India) 6-2, 6-2
FINAL Beat Vaidehi Bhagwat (India) 6-4, 6-7, 6-4

Doubles - (Partnering - Vaidehi Bhagwat of India)
Bye
Beat Nithya Raj (India)/Saranya Verma (India) 4-0, 4-1
Beat Nikitha Shetty (India)/Arzoo Malik (India) 6-0, 6-0
FINAL Beat Zainab Sajjad Ali (India)/Anushka Bhargava (India) 6-0, 6-4

===========================

Riffa Cup
Manama, Bahrain
12-16 November 2007

Singles
Bye
Beat Nicolette Wolny (USA) 7-5, 6-4
Beat Jonicka Guba (Philippines) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
Beat Arzoo Malik (India) 6-1, 6-2
FINAL Beat Natasha Rizvi (USA) 7-6, 6-4

Doubles - (Partnering - Anushka Bhargava of India)
Bye
Beat Chandler Beachy (USA)/Nadia Al-fardan (Bahrain) 6-0, 6-0
Lost to Arzoo Malik (India)/Nicolette Wolny (USA) 2-6, 7-6

===========================

Asian Tennis Federation 14 & Under Series,
Manama, Bahrain
19-23 November 2007

Singles
Bye
Beat Azza Al Hinai (Oman) 6-0, 6-0
Beat Diala Jamaleddin (Syria) 6-0, 6-0
Beat Vaidehi Bhagwat (India) 6-2, 6-0
FINAL Beat Jonicka Guba (Philippines) 6-3, 7-5

Doubles - (Partnering - Namita Bal of India)
Bye
Beat Diala Jamaleddin (Syria)/Mehek Khokar (Pakistan) 6-1, 6-1
Beat Adelle Boey (Malaysia)/Jonicka Guba (Philippines) 3-6, 7-5, 10/8
FINAL Beat Vaidehi Bhagwat (India)/Anushka Bhargava (India) 6-3, 2-6, 10/4

===================================================

Ranked 1st in Asia in U-14 as per rankings released on 3rd December by the Asian Tennis Federation

Bhakti Kulkarni and Ivana Furtado - In Short

Bhakti Pradip Kulkarni

1. Goa's first titled player - Woman FIDE Master

2. First Goan to qualify for the National Women's 'A'

and appeared on the prize list in her first attempt in 2006.

3. Won the Bronze Medal in the Asian Girls Under 14 in New Delhi in 2005.

4. Won the Gold Medal in the Asian Girls Under 14 in Teheran in 2006.

5. Won the Silver Medal in the Asian Girls Under 16 in Tashkent in 2007.

6. Won the Gold Medal in the Commonwealth Girls Under 18 in Mumbai in 2006.

7. Won the Goa State Men's Championship three years in a row from 2004-2006.

Ivana Maria Furtado

1. Youngest Indian World Champion in any sport when she won the Gold Medal

in the World Youth Girls Under 8 in Batumi, Georgia in 2006. (Her name appears

in the Limca Book of records for this feat on page 400).

2. Won the Bronze Medal in the Asian Girls Under 8 in New Delhi in 2005.

3. Won the Silver Medal in the Asian Girls Under 8 in Teheran in 2006.

4. Won the Gold Medal in the Asian Schools Girls Under 7 in Singapore in 2006

and the Gold Medal for the Team Championship.

5. Won the Gold Medal in the World Schools Girls Under 8 in Greece in 2007

and the Gold Medal for the Team Championship.

Between the two of them, both the girls have won 10 international medals (6 Gold,

2 Silver and 2 Bronze) in a period of 1.5 years

Courtesy - Sameer Salgaocar

Goa U-14 Football team to Portugal, Sri Lanka

As part of its on-going youth development programme, the Goa Football Association has deputed an under-14 state football team on a tour of Sri Lanka and Portugal.

The 17-day visit will include one match in Colombo, a training camp in Guimaraes and participation in a tournament in Pontinha.

During their stay in Portugal the team will also play against the corresponding youth teams of leading professional clubs like Vitoria de Guimaraes SC and Boavista FC.

Nineteen footballers will represent the under-14 team for the Mariano Barreto tournament to be held in Lisbon. later this The Goa team will be captained by top-notch midfielder Jesvil D’Souza of Pilar while 25-year-old Margao-based Francisco Bruto Da Costa, will be the coach.

The squad presents a balanced look with the cream of Goan Under-14 football talent making it to the final selection of 19 from a pool of 22 youth footballers chosen over various selection trials and training camps under the eye of Da Costa, assisted by Portugal returned Lino Pereira, Soccoro Vaz and goal-keeping coach Virender Singh.

The Goan contingent comprises three goalkeepers in Andey Fernandes, Shilton Fernandes and Ricardo Cardozo. Adney hails from Chandor and is a regular for Velsao Pale SC; Shilton has captained the India U-13 and comes from Navelim; Ricardo from Candolim is the son of former Dempo goalkeeper Eugenio Cardozo. The three goalkeepers have been trained by former international Virender Singh, the goalkeeper coach of Salgaocar SC.

In the defense, there are six players in the backline. Elroy Silva of Goa United and Fernando Colaco of Arlem are both wingbacks; Jesmon Carvalho, who represented India U-13, Melton D’Silva of Salgaocar , Joel Gama from Verna, captain of the state U-14 side in the school nationals and Shane Temudo, from Tivim will form the heart of the defense.

The midfield consists of skipper Jesvil, who attended the India U-16 camp and Brandon Fernandes, Goa U-13 captain and also an U-13 international, along with Enfal Vaz and Michael Silva (both Salgaocar), Lyndon Pereira (Velsao), and Philino Ratos (Goa United) which gives the coach an option to be flexible with his formations.

In the striking line there are four options with Pandhari Chopdekar of Dempo rated as one of the best forwards on the Goa youth scene is known to possess most qualities of an ideal striker. Billu Chavan of Parra is a speedy winger, Hasten D’Costa from Velsao-Pale is one of the rare breed of genuine left-footer, and Myron Fernandes of Goa United, another upcoming striker completes the department.

THE Goa U-14 team

Goalkeepers: Adney Fernandes, Shilton Fernandes, Ricardo Cardozo. Defenders: Jesmon Carvalho, Elroy D’Silva, Shane Temudo, Meldon D’Silva, Joel Menezes Gama, Fernando Colaco. Midfielders: Enfal Vaz, Michael Silva, Lyndon Pereira, Jesvil D’Souza (captain), Brandon Fernandes, Philino Ratos. Strikers: Hasten D’Costa, Myron Fernandes, Billu Chavan, Pandhari Chopdekar.

Source

International Cricket Matches in Goa

This is the list of cricket matches involving international teams played on Goan soil.

At Bhausaheb Bandodkar Ground, Panaji (Panjim Gymkhana), a first class 3 day match between Ranji champions Tamil Nadu and the touring New Zealanders was played on 19th, 20th, 21st November 1988 Link


The Nehru Stadium at Fatorda, Margao has played host to 8 One day Internationals. Here is the list

1) Australia v Sri Lanka on 25 Oct 1989 Link

2) India v Sri Lanka on 8 Dec 1990 Link

3) New Zealand v West Indies on 26 Oct 1994 Link

4) India v New Zealand on 21 Nov 1995 Link

5) India v Sri Lanka on 28 Dec 1997 Link

6) India v Australia on 6 Apr 2001 Link

7) India v England on 3 Apr 2006 Link

8) India v Sri Lanka on 14 Feb 2007 Link


It has also played host to one youth one day international match
India Under-19s v New Zealand Under-19s on 10th March 1992 Link

In 1968, a 3-day match was organised between two handpicked teams for the benefit of the victims of that Koyna earthquake and was played at Dr Rajendra Prasad Stadium, Margao on 12th, 13th, 14th April 1968. The teams were called Goa Chief Minister's XI and the Maharashtra Finance Minister's XI. Goa Chief Minister's XI won the toss and decided to bat. The Goa Chief Minister's XI won by 146 runs. The players -
Goa Chief Minister's XI - Graham Dowling, Mark Burgess(both of New Zealand), Budhi Kunderan, Madhav Mantri, Bapu Nadkarni, Eknath Solkar, Vijay Bhosle, Shankar More, Sharad Diwadkar, Anwar Shaikh, Umesh Kulkarni
Maharashtra Finance Minister's XI - Prince Indrajitsinhji, Ramnath Parkar, Rusi Surti, Ajit Wadekar, M L Jaisimha, Dilip Sardesai, Manohar Hardikar, Erapalli Prasanna, Ramakant Desai, Padmakar Shivalkar, Kishore Rao
Link

Goans in India U-13 Soccer Squad

Goalkeeper Shilton Eusebio Fernandes has been chosen to captain the India U-13 team at the AFC Under 13 Football Festival South & Central Region in Dhaka from 2-9 May 2007.

Defender Jesmon Joannes Carvalho and striker Brandon Fernandes are the other Goans to have found a place in the side.

The other teams taking part in the AFC U-13 Football Festival at Dhaka are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Iran, Kyrygstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The India U-13 team is being coached by two Goans, Carlos Gomes and Eban Mesquita.

Source : AIFF

Ivana Furtado at the World Schools Chess Championships

Ivana Furtado of Goa is seeded 8th at the World Schools Chess Championships being played in Halkidiki, Greece.

First Round - Saturday, 28 April
- beat Ramadani Sarah of Slovenia.

Second Round - Sunday, 29 April
- beat Arina Utkina of Russia.

Third Round - Monday, 30 April
- lost to Vasova Valentinova Mariya of Bulgaria.

Fourth Round - Tuesday, 1 May
- lost to Sweety Patel of India

Fifth Round - Tuesday, 1 May
- beat Pramateftaki Aspasia of Greece

Sixth Round - Wednesday, 2 May
- beat Ho En Ying Michelle of Singapore

Seventh Round - Thursday, 3 May
- beat Meghna C H of India

Eighth Round - Friday, 4 May
- beat Menzi Nezihe Ezgi of Turkey

Ninth Round - Saturday, 5 May
- lost to Aleksandra Goryachkina of Russia

After 9 games, Ivana won six and lost three.

She thus, finished 5th in the field of 24 participants in the Under-9 category.

Source - http://www.chess.gr/tourn/2007/GamesFestival07/
Thanks to Sameer Salgaocar for the information.

Alex Vaz - Soccer Referee

Alex Joseph Vaz was a international soccer referee. This entry will attempt to list all the international matches he has officiated in. The list may not be complete, but as is the norm on the blog, an incremental model of updation is followed.

Tournament: Asian Nations Cup 1968, Iran
Officiated as Main Referee in 3 matches

6th May 1968 (Link)
Result: Iran 2 - Kuwait 1
Venue: Amjadiah Stadium, Teheran, Iran

13th May 1968 (Link)
Result: Iran 4 - Taiwan 0
Venue: Amjadiah Stadium, Teheran, Iran

Final - 19th May 1968 (Link)
Result: Iran 2 - Israel 1
Venue: Amjadiah Stadium, Teheran, Iran

Soniya Parab - Boxing

Soniya Parab, pin weight boxing category gold medallist at the National Games held at Guwahati, has been selected to represent India at the Ahmet Comert Boxing Championships to be held at Istanbul, Turkey from May 8 to 14, rated as the next best championship after the Women’s World Cup.

Her coach, Fabrizio Petroni, who runs the gymnasium called Tiger Boxing Club in Chapora, has played a major role in her success.

=====================================================

on 9th May, Soniya was eliminated in the preliminary round of the 46kg event by Oksana Shtakun of Ukraine to whom she lost by a 17-30 margin.

Maria Rebello - FIFA Referee

Maria Rebello is the first woman FIFA referee from Goa. She earned her first badge in Mumbai through Western India Football Association.

Her first international assignment as a referee will be officiating in two matches to be played between the women's National teams of Maldives and Bahrain on April 11 and April 22, 2007.

She is a former international player, having represented India a number of times, prominent among those being the Asian Football championship held at Malaysia in September 1995, Asian Women's Cup at Bangkok and a series of matches at Germany in 1996 and the Asian Games held at Bangkok in 1998. She was also chosen to captain the Indian women's team at a tournament in Chinese Taipei.

International Squash players of Goan origin

Caji D'Souza - 1972 and before for Uganda
Tony D'Souza - 1970s for Tanzania

Scrabble Internationals

The following players have played for India in international scrabble tournaments

Irineu Gonsalves
Rajiv Antao
Douglas Lobo
Anthony Gomes
Jacky Fernandes
Joe Rodrigues

Incentive Scheme for Goan chess players

Following are the details of the Incentive Scheme for Goan chess players for the years 2005-2009 provided by the Goan Chess Association

Category 1 - National / Asian/ Commonwealth : Top 12
Players - Digital Clock
Coach - 1,000

Category 2 - National / Asian/ Commonwealth : Top 3
Players - Laptop
Coach - 10,000

Category 3 - National / Asian/ Commonwealth : Winner
Players - 60,000
Coach - 15,000

Category 4 - World Top 3
Players - 1,00,000
Coach - 25,000

Category 5 - FIDE Rating (Any)
Players - 4,000
Coach - 1,000

Category 6 - FIDE Rating (2200)
Players - 8,000
Coach - 2,000

Category 7 - FIDE Rating (2300)
Players - 12,000
Coach - 3,000

Category 8 - FIDE Rating (2400)
Players - 16,000
Coach - 4,000

Category 9 - Goa selection (Any one Category) 2 out of 4 years Winner
Players - 4,000
Coach - 1,000

Category 10 - Goa selection (Any one Category) 3 out of 4 years Winner
Players - 8,000
Coach - 2,000

Note: Special prizes for titles (GM, IM,FM,WGM, WIM, WFM) to be announced later. National Games will not be considered. All prizes can be claimed only once by any particular player. Current non-Goans will have to play selection from Goa to be eligible for awards.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Winners Sor Far (as on 01.01.07)

1. Rakshit Rai, Anurag Mhammal, Ivana Furtado, Bhakti Kulkarni, Cyrus Perreira, Niraj Saripalli

2. Bhakti Kulkarni, Ivana Furtado

3. Bhakti Kulkarni

4. Ivana Furtado

5. Umang Kaisary, Nandini Saripalli, Keegan Furtado, Charudatta Desai, Celianne Carvalho, Cyrus Perreira, Shyam Kantak, Sanjay Kavlekar, Amog Namshiker, Niraj Saripalli, Manmesh Naik

9. Bhakti Kulkarni (Seniors-Open), Sumit Asnodkar (Juniors-Boys), Anurag Mhammal (Under 11-Boys), Ivana Furtado (Under 9-Girls)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Special Award: Bhakti Kulkarni was awarded Rs. 10,000/- (inclusive of Rs. 2,000/- for coach) for qualifying for the National 'A' Women's tournament in 2006.

Boxing - Internationals of Goan origin -

Boxers
Pravin Shirodkar
Vishwanath Naik
Pandarinath Shirodkar
Santosh Birmole
Premanand Gaonkar
Akash Korgaonkar
Santosh Harijan
Joe Gonsalves
Buddy D'Souza
Bertie Gomes
Soniya Parab (women's)

Referees
Cornelius V Monteiro
Lenny Gama