This week has been a memorable one for sports aficionados in Goa. While the State football team qualified for the main round of the National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy, the Goa cricket team secured a commendable seven-wicket win over southern powerhouse Kerala in their Ranji Trophy campaign.
The football team's success was especially sweet as it comes after the ignominy of the failure to progress to the main round of the Santosh Trophy tournament when they fell to minnows Gujarat in the zonal qualifiers in the last edition. It looked like Noberto Gonsalves' men would miss the bus again as they trailed group leaders Nagaland going into the final round of group matches and needed a favourable result in the other fixture involving the table toppers. In the final fixture, Goa went on to beat Tamil Nadu 3-0 after Arunachal Pradesh held Nagaland to a 1-1 draw. The new format of the tournament only gives six group toppers automatic qualification to the next round, who are joined by the three best second-placed teams in the final rounds. Railways and Services will get direct entry along with the hosts.
Goa made a sedate start to their campaign, getting past hosts Assam 1-0 in the opening match. They were rattled by Uttar Pradesh when the northern minnows took a surprise 2-0 lead. Goa managed to rally for a point with a 2-2 draw but it seemed the dropped points would prove costly in the endgame with Nagaland staying ahead of the curve, without conceding any point. With Goa staying on the heels of Nagaland, the clash between the two sides became pivotal in the two-way race for the automatic qualifying berth. But a stalemate in that fixture meant Nagaland were still one up on Goa and needed a win in the final tie to advance. However, the northeastern team slipped ahead of the final hurdle, held to a draw by Arunachal and Goa stole the march on Nagaland with a commanding win over Tamil Nadu to progress on the basis of a better goal difference.
While Goa have reached the main round, managing to get through by the skin of their teeth, the campaign exposed familiar frailties in the State team's game. If they are to advance to the knockout rounds from the six-team round-robin main round, they will need to up their game significantly. The five-time champions had won their last title in 2008-09.
Meanwhile in cricket, it was a rare occasion of celebration as Goa outplayed Kerala in the opposition team's own backyard for a famous seven-wicket win. The architect of the victory was debutant opener Ishaan Gadekar, who became the first Goa batter to score a hundred and a fifty in his first Ranji Trophy match. The 25-year-old southpaw showed immense temperament to notch up a maiden ton (105) in his debut inning and then scored a mature unbeaten 67 to take Goa home. Four-match-old off-spinner Mohit Redkar was another standout performer as he tamed the host batters with a six-wicket haul to restrict Kerala to 200 in the second innings to ensure an easier 155-run target for Goa to chase. What was impressive about the win was that it was achieved in adverse conditions, tailor-made for the hosts with their three-pronged spin attack.
With three more matches to go, Goa are in a good space to press for strong results and end the Ranji campaign on a high. In the ever-competitive domestic circuit brimming with talent, a top-five finish in the group would be a laudable performance.
