India continued to bag gold medals on Day 4 of the Commonwealth Games 2018, with weightlifter Punam Yadav and 16-year-old shooter Manu Bhaker winning a gold medal each. Yadav bagged hers in women's 69kg weightlifting, while Bhaker's came in 10-metre air pistol event. Shooter Heena Sidhu, meanwhile, won the silver medal in the 10-m air pistol event at 21st Commonwealth Games being held in Gold Coast, Australia.
Among Indian men, shooter Ravi Kumar won India's 10th medal at CWG 2018. a bronze in 10-m air rifle shooting. Deepak Kumar, who broke the Commonwealth record in the the 10-m air rifle quarters, finished at the 6th position.
In boxing, five-time world champion M C Mary Kom confirmed a medal (48 kg category) as she advanced to the semifinals of the Commonwealth Games 2018 boxing event. This is Mary Kom's first appearance in CWG. She will face Sri Lanka's Anusha Dilrukshi in the semifinal on April 11.
In the medals tally, India is now at the 3rd position, with 6 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze. Australia is at the top with a total 60 medals, while England is placed second with a total of 34.
Here are top 8 developments so far on Day 4 of the Commonwealth Games 2018:
1. Shooter Bhaker wins gold, 6th one for India at Commonwealth Games 2018, Heena takes silver: India's Manu Bhaker, 16, and Heena Sidhu took a gold and silver medal, respectively, in the Women's 10m Air Pistol event at the 21st Commonwealth Games on Sunday. Bhaker produced a spectacular performance, setting a new CWG record with a total of 240.9 points in the final round. Sidhu registered 234 to make it 1-2 for India at the top of the podium. Australia's Elena Galiabovitch took bronze with 214.9 to bring some cheer for the hosts.
2. Weightlifter Punam Yadav wins India's fifth gold at the Commonwealth Games 2018: Indian weighlifters continued to dominate the competition at the 21st Commonwealth Games, as Punam Yadav won gold in the women's 69 kg category on Sunday. Yadav lifted a total of 222 kg which included 100 kg in snatch and 122 kg in clean and jerk. England's Sarah Davies took silver with 217 kg, while Apolonia Vaivai of Fiji lifted 216 kg for the bronze. This the fifth gold medal for India at this year's CWG. Mirabai Chanu, Sanjita Chanu, Sathish Sivalingam and Venkat Rahul Ragala had earlier emerged champions in their respective categories. Yadav started slowly, lifting 95 kg in her opening attempt. However, Vaivai registered 97 kg to take the lead after the completion of the opening attempts.
Yadav lifted 98 kg in her second attempt but Vaivai maintained the lead with 100 kg. The Indian equalled that in her third and last attempt and Vaivai's failure to lift 103 meant both lifters ended the snatch phase at the joint top spot. Yadav did not look convincing at the start of the clean and jerk phase. She struggled to lift 118 kg in her first attempt which gave her the lead. But failing at 122 kg in her second attempt put her in a spot of bother. However, she recovered to lift 122 kg in her third attempt and Vavai's failure at that same weight put the Indian in the leading position for the gold. Davies then made a brave attempt at the gold with a final attempt of 128 kg. But her attempt proved futile as she failed to lift that weight, sparking celebrations in the Indian camp.
3. Mary Kom to bring an assured medal in boxing for India: Veteran Indian star M C Mary Kom entered the semi-finals of the women's 48 kg boxing competition at the 21st Commonwealth Games with a convincing victory over Megan Gordon of Scotland at Gold Coast on Sunday. The five-time world champion dominated her 18-year-old opponent throughout the one-sided quarter-final to claim a unanimous 5-0 verdict at the Oxenford Boxing studios. Her entry into the last four stage confirms a bronze medal for Mary Kom.
Although she has world titles and an Olympic bronze in her trophy cabinet, Mary Kom has yet to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games until this year's edition. She started slowly, taking her time to gauge her opponent, although she did land a couple of solid blows.
4. India beat England in women's hockey: India staged a late comeback to stun England 2-1 in a Pool A match of the women's hockey competition at Gold Coast on Sunday. England skipper Alexandra Danson (1st minute) scored in the opening minute to put her team ahead right at the start. India hit back through Navneet Kaur (42nd minute) and Gurjit Kaur (48th minute) in the second half to claim a hard-fought win. England were clearly the superior team throughout the game, hogging most of the ball possession and putting the Indian defence under constant pressure with a a stream of seemingly endless attacks.
Despite the pressure, the Indian defenders did well to keep the English forwards at bay with excellent organisation and some tight marking. The Indians tried to hit back with the occasional counter-attack, but struggled to maintain possession inside their opponents' half. Desperate to salvage the match England laid siege to the Indian goal, earning their sixth penalty corner in the process. England manager Maggie Souyave decided on an ultra attacking approach in the final minutes, taking off Hinch for an extra forward. But the English efforts did not prove to be enough as the Indians bravely held on for the win.
5. Shooters Deepak, Ravi qualify for men's 10m air rifle finals: Indian shooters Deepak Kumar and Ravi Kumar have qualified for the men's 10 metre air rifle finals by securing the top two positions at the 21st Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast. Deepak created a Commonwealth Games record by shooting a total of 627.2 while Ravi secured his place in the final by total of 626.8 points.
6. Swimmer Sajan Prakash enters men's 100m butterfly semis: India's Sajan Prakash qualified for the semi-finals of swimming men's 100 metre Butterfly at the 21st Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast. Sajan finished second in Heat 2 of the competition after clocking 54.11 seconds only behind Australia's Grant Irvine, who finished with a timing of 53.89 at the Optus Aquatic Centre.
7. Khushbir Kaur finishes 4th in women's race walk: India's Khushbir Kaur finished fourth in the Women's 20 kilometre Race Walk event at the 21st Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast. Khushbir clocked a time of 1 hour, 39 minutes and 21 seconds. Jemima Montag of Australia won the gold medal with a time of 1:32:50. New Zealand's Alana Barber got the silver with 1:34:18 while Bethan Davies of Wales clocked 1:36:08 for the bronze.
8. Manish, Irfan disappoint in men's 20km race walk: India's Manish Singh and Irfan Kolothum Thodi registered disappointing performances in the Men's 20 kilometre Race Walk event at the 21st Commonwealth Games 2018. Manish registered a time of 1 hour, 22 minutes and 22 seconds to take the sixth spot. Irfan was even more disappointing, clocking 1:27:34 to finish 13th in a field of 15 athletes. Dane Bird-Smith of Australia claimed the title with a time of 1:19:34. He had to beat off a tough challenge from England's Tom Bosworth who took the silver medal with 1:19:38. Samuel Ireri Gathimba got the bronze for athletics powerhouse Kenya with a time of 1:19:51.