Commonwealth Games 2018, Live Updates, Day 3 in Gold Coast: Pakistan Get Late Equaliser, Game Finishes 2-2

2-2! Pakistan have got a stunning equaliser, some late drama as Pakistan get two back-to-back penalty corners and they make the most of the second one. Ali Mubashar with a superb drag flick into the bottom corner. India let the game slip in the second half yet again!

Sathish Kumar Sivalingam are understandably elated today with their son winning the Gold medal in the 77 kilogram category of the men's weightlifting competition.
"Sometime prior to the Games he suffered a leg injury. During the 2014 Commonwealth Games he was in good form," S.Deivanai, the champion's mother, told IANS.
"He never came home without a medal. It was only in the Olympics he came back medal less," she added.

Sreejesh has been absolutely terrific today, proving why he is one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Three consecutive penalty corners for Pakistan but not one can get past the Indian GK, still 2-1 with less than 8 minutes left.

Pakistan start well in the fourth quarter, they are on the attack hunting for that equaliser. Close to 10 minutes left and it is still 2-1 in India's favour

End of 3rd quarter: India lead Pakistan 2-1. There has been a goal in each of the quarters so far. 

Goal: Pakistan have pulled one back through Mohammad Irfan Junior. Pakistan are back in this game after being dominated for the better part of two quarters. India lead 2-1

Weightlifting: India’s Vandana Kumar (63kg) failed in the first two attempts in the snatch category, and can post only 80kgs. She stands fifth as of now and still has a chance of coming away with a medal.  

Half Time: India lead Pakistan 2-0 and look very much the more dominant side in this contest. Another two quarters coming up. India scored through goals from Dilpreet and Hamranpreet.

Both sides have had a player see yellow, Akashdeep for India and Bilal for Pakistan for an off the ball incident. Both sides down by a man as Pakistan look to get their first goal with their first penalty corner.

GOAL: Harmanpreet Singh doubles the lead from the penalty corner. India lead Pakistan by 2-0 midway through the second qaurter. 

India have been looking very good in attack, especially when in the D, and they need to convert their chances. Couple of quick penalty corners coming India's way midway through the second quarter. 

Early in the second quarter, Pakistan are dealt with a blow as Muhammad Atiq is out with a yellow card. That means at least 5 minutes away from the game. India have the man advantage now.

GOAL: India take the lead close to the end of the first quarter as SV Sunil plays it out to Dilpreet who made no mistake in finishing off the chance. India lead Pakistan 1-0

Just over ten minutes through in the first quarter of this big hockey match, and both teams are going for the kill and attacking each other with great gusto. The defenses will have a long day at work today and the midfielders will have to step up to keep the pace of the game going. 

Almost an early chance for Pakistan to strike early, but India manage to clear in time and get a counter attack of theirs going. Expect neither side to hold back as the game progresses. 

Here is the Starting XI of the Indian Men’s Hockey Team that will take on Pakistan in their highly anticipated encounter of the @GC2018 2018 XXI Commonwealth Games on 7th April 2018. #IndiaKaGame #HallaHockeyKa #INDvPAK #GC2018 pic.twitter.com/MfiDk149cD

— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) April 7, 2018

India begin their campaign today, while Pakistan have already played their first game against Wales where they were held to a draw and are third in the group standings as of now.

Sjoerd Marijne: This is a big game for India and the history is behind us. For now the players have to focus and make sure they begin the 2018 CWG campaign in good style. It's up to the players from here on in.

Former India captain Viren Rasquinha believes that this match will be a battle of mind games, especially since Oltmans is aware of India's strengths. He also says the return of the likes of PR Sreejesh in goal along with the experience of Rupinder Pal Singh and SV Sunil will be crucial for India's side.

In half an hour is India's big hockey match where they will take on arch-rivals Pakistan. India are a much changed side with no Sardara Singh pulling the strings from midfield. This also pits India's former coach Roelant Oltmans against his replacement Sjoerd Marijne. 

Over on the badminton courts, India have moved into the semi finals of the mixed team event after Kidambi Srikanth ensured an unassailable 3-0 lead in the best of 5 against Mauritius. Earlier the doubles pairings of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty and Ashwini Ponnappa-N Sikki Reddy had helped India to a 2-0 lead

Indian teenager Srihari Nataraj put in a good show as he came up with another National record effort with a 26.47-second effort in the 50m backstroke heats to qualify for the semifinals in 9^th place. His previous best was of 26.58 seconds set in the National championship in October 2017. Even though the young lad has improved by leaps and bounds in his short career so far, it is unlikely he will win a medal in a world-class field.

Over in gymnastics where India's Yogeshwar Singh was in the final. He finished 14th in the rankings after a total weight of 75.6 kgs in the All Round Gymnastics Event. He did make it up to the seventh spot at one point and needed one big performance to move into the medal places, but that did not happen. 

It was not the easiest of days of the Sathish as he revealed after the medal ceremony that he had to fight pain on his way to clinching Gold. It was an injury during the Nationals that has been troubling him. "I was in a lot of pain and basic things like sitting was very painful for me. Everyone took care of me and encouraged me even though I was not very confident. I had not trained that hard and my body was not at its best, and so was not hoping for a medal," said Sathish after the medal ceremony.

The bronze medal went to Australian showman Francois Etoundi, who lifted 305kg (136kg+169kg). Etoundi injured his shoulder after his final lift. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Sathish Sivalingam won the gold medal with a 149kg snatch and 179kg clean and jerk lifts, totalling 328kg. His lift of 149kg in snatch continues to be the Games record. He is also the reigning Commonwealth Championships gold-medallist.

Sivalingam is the defending champion at CWG. He lifted a total of 317kg (114kg+173kg) and was so ahead of the competition that he did not go for his final clean and jerk lift. However, it was a fascinating contest of one-upmanship between Sathish and eventual silver-medallist Jack Oliver of England in the snatch competition. The two kept upping the weights before their attempts but Oliver managed to keep his nose ahead at the end of snatch as he lifted 145kg in his second attempt. It was a kilogram more than Satish's final attempt. However, Satish had the last laugh quite comfortably in clean and jerk after Oliver failed two attempts of 171kg and settled for a total of 312kg (145kg+167kg).

Weightlifter Sathish Kumar Sivalingam wins Gold in the men's 77kg category. This is India's third gold medal at the Commonwealth Games 2018, taking the total medal tally to five.

Hello and welcome to the live blog of the Commonwealth Games 2018. We will get you the results of all the matches in which Indian will be in action.