Over 1,000 athletes for Lusofonia Games; Wushu to make debut

Panaji: Martial art sport Wushu will make its debut at the Lusofonia Games that will see participation from over 1,000 athletes from a dozen Portuguese-speaking nations.

The international sporting event, also called Portuguese Commonwealth Games, is scheduled to be held in Goa from January 18 to 29. Athletes will vie for over 300 medals in nine disciplines, including Wushu, a popular Chinese martial art, officials said here. The Games would be held at half a dozen venues spread across Goa, including Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at Fatorda which will be hosting football, a game popular in all the Portuguese-speaking countries. A total of 315 medals -- 93 in athletics, 98 in wushu, 56 in judo, 32 in taekwando, 15 in table tennis, six each in basketball, beach volleyball and volleyball and three in football -- will be up for grabs, the organisers said. Around 1,500 athletes and officials from 12 countries, having Portuguese-speaking population, would be participating in the event being held in India for the first time. Besides India (to be represented by Goa), the other nations to compete at the event are Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Macau (China), Sao Tome and Principe, Mozambique, Portugal and Sri Lanka, said Keshav Chandra, Chief Executive Officer, Lusofonia Games. Wushu would be part of the Games for the first time, he added. PTI