Panaji, Dec 27

Reigning National Champion Soumyajit Ghosh will lead the Indian table tennis team at the third Lusofonia Games beginning Jan 18 in Goa.

The men's team comprises 20-year-old Ghosh, Anthony Amalraj (Tamil Nadu), Harmeet Desai (Gujarat), Adarsh P (Goa) and Diljeet Vilingkar (Goa). The notable omission from the side is India's top player Sharath Kamal.

The women's team has national champion Shamini Kumaresan (Tamil Nadu), Madhurika Patkar (Mumbai), Ankita Das (West Bengal), Tanisi Kirtani (Goa) and Divya D'Mello (Goa).

The 3rd Lusofonia Games will be held over 12 days and will see participation from over 1,500 athletes and officials from 12 nations.

Participating countries are founding members Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Macau (Chinese SAR), Mozambique, Portugal and São Tomé and Príncipe, and associate members Equatorial Guinea, India and Sri Lanka.

Athletes will compete in nine sporting disciplines -- Athletics, Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Football, Judo, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Volleyball and Wushu.

By:IANS