Daijiworld Media Network - London

London, Jul 27: Konkani Kutam London (KKL) successfully held its first ever sports day on July 26 at Kingsbury High School Sports Hall, London lead by vice president Precilla Fernandes, founder Glen D’souza and 11 passionate team members comprising of Melvin Rodrigues, Ceaser Fernandes, Matilda D’souza, Sandhya D’souza, Divya D’souza, Santhosh D’souza, Apoline Fernandes, Helen Augustine, Raj Francis Pereira, Stan Mendonca and Lloyd D’sa.

The day commenced with welcoming the passionate contestants and energetic audience in the massive sports hall where all the games were organised. The cricket tournament for men has been postponed for a future date due to wet weather conditions. The teams then decided to play a game of friendly cricket in the rain and made sure that the audience were entertained right till the end of the cricket session.

All the contestants and the audience were welcomed into the sports hall where all the games were organised by the KKL members. The games began with a 100-meter running race for the children below the age of 12 years. The standing positions of the winners were Joyce Silva (winner), Eva Borges (1st runner up) and Ronnet D’souza (2nd runner up). The next game organised was a thrilling frog race for the same age group in which the winners were Rian Williams (winner), Jude Williams (1st runner up) and Annika Pinto (2nd runner up). The last game in the same category was filling the empty bottle with water from a bucket which was placed 100 meters away from the starting point and then returning back to the finish line. All the contestants had an amazing time competing which each other. The winners announced for the game were Rachel D’souza (winner), Joshua Dingre (1st runner up) and Annika Pinto (2nd runner up).

Children between the age group of 7-12 years actively took part in throwing the ball through the basketball hoop competition and a 100-metre race. They had only a few chances to prove themselves in throwing the ball through the basketball hoop and all the children took their sport very competitively. The winners for the basketball game announced were Joshua Dingre (winner), Justin Rodrigues (1st runner up) and Rachel D’souza (2nd runner up). The 100-meter race was won by Joshua Dingre (winner) and Justin Rodrigues (runner up).

All the ladies enthusiastically took part in games like sack race, lemon and spoon and the hopping game popularly known as langdi race. The winners announced are as below:

Langdi Race:
Winner : Melanie Rodrigues
1st runner up: Lavita D’souza
2nd runner up: Irine Pinto

Lemon and Spoon Race:

Winner: Sandhya D’souza
1st runner up: Violet Borges
2nd runner up: Latisha Silva

Sack Race:
Winner: Ruth Viegas
1st runner up: Sandhya D’souza
2nd runner up: Melanie Rodrigues and Silvia Silva

The men got involved and played with high spirits in games like the 100-meter sack race and the lemon and spoon race. The winners announced are as below:

Sack Race:
Winner: Lloyd D’sa
1st runner up: Kishore Kumar
2nd runner up: Minino Silva

Lemon and Spoon Race:
Winner: Derick D’souza
1st runner up: Santhosh D’souza
2nd runner up: George Quadros

In between all the games, snacks and refreshments were prepared and served by Julie Rodrigues, Anjalina Saldanha, Precilla Fernandes and Stella D’sa to all the contestants and spectators. The awards were distributed at the end of the event.

Foot tapping music was organised by Melvin Rodrigues, which was played and managed by DJ Ceaser Fernandes. Amazing photographs and moments were captured by Rosemary Mascarenhas. Finally the day ended with a special thank you speech from Glen D’souza who gave credit to all the KKL members and the participants including the audience who supported KKL Sports Day and made it a day to remember. KKL has now and always looked forward to organising such special events to promote Konkani language and the Mangalurean community at each and every stage. The next KKL sports day will be held in London in the summer of 2016.