PANAJI: The Goa Olympic Association (GOA), as part of its Olympics awareness campaign on the sidelines of Tokyo 2020 Olympics, felicitated eminent sports personalities from the disciplines of Sepak Takraw, Kho-Kho and Badminton.
In recognition of their outstanding achievements in the respective fields, the following players/promoters were felicitated at Agakhan Park, Margao – Manoj Naik, Lehala Gomes, Manisha Devidas, Krishna Kharade and Shankar Dessai (all Sepak Takraw); Gokuldas Shirodkar, L. J. Lima, Anil Gaonkar, Dipesh Vellip and Amresh Vellip (Kho-Kho).
GOA Secretary-General, Gurudatta Bhakta graced the felicitation function along with office-bearers of the Sepak Takraw, and Kho-Kho association.
On a day when P V Sindhu went down fighting against Tai Tzu Ying in the semi-finals, the Goa Badminton Association in collaboration with Clube Tennis de Gaspar Dias organised a ‘Live screening’ of the match at Gaspar Dias Hall premises at Miramar where around 60 children along with their parents attended. Various engaging contests were held. On the occasion, the GOA felicitated 5 outstanding personalities related to badminton, namely Luciano Soares, Sarfraz Sheikh, Yeshwantrao Dessai, Aniket Shenai and Marina Albuquerque, to recognise their services to the sport. India International badminton player Anura Prabhu Desai graced the felicitation function in the presence of Goa Badminton Association office-bearers Narahar Thakur (President), Sandeep Heble(Secretary) and GOA co-ordinator Chetan Kavlekar.
Earlier, the GOA in collaboration with Taekwondo Association of Goa, Judo Association and Ponda Gymnastics group organised a race for awareness at Ponda. The run was flagged off by Police officer Mohan Gaude, in the presence of Adv R D Mangeshkar, vice-president, GOA. Sunil Sharma, Shivkaran Kewat, Jaiwant Hammnaver and Deepak Mandrekar co-ordinated the race with the help of Ponda Police, states a press release issued by Sandeep Heble, Media co-ordinator, GOA.
