Commonwealth Games 2018: Manu Bhaker, Punam Yadav and Manika Batra lead a golden day at CWG
India's gold medallist Manu Bhaker poses with her medal after winning the women's 10m air pistol competition at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games at the Belmont Shooting Complex in Brisbane on April 8, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Patrick HAMILTON Gold Coast: From weightlifting to boxing to table tennis to hockey, women formed the core of India’s stupendous display on Sunday at the 21st Commonwealth Games.
It all started with 16-year-old Manu Bhaker – the teen sensation from Haryana — shot down the Games record and won the gold medal in the 10m air pistol event. A distant silver-medallist in the event also happened to be a woman — Heena Sidhu. “Shooting is an uncomplicated sport, take aim and shoot. That’s why it’s important not to think too much. If you think too much, then it becomes complex,” explained Bhaker as she analysed her brilliant performance.
And in the evening, came the icing on the cake: the women’s table tennis team of Manika Batra, Madhurika Patkar and Mouma Das did what was not at all expected of them, beat defending champions Singapore 3-1 for a historic maiden gold. In weightlifting, Punam Yadav (69kg) pulled off a personal best of 222kg (110kg+112kg) to improve on the bronze she had won in the 2014 edition to add another gold to India’s kitty.
The women’s hockey team showed tremendous grit to stun Olympic champions England in its third pool match, which has brought them closer to a semi-final berth. On the badminton court, Saina Nehwal remained in brutally good form and guided India to a 3-1 triumph over Singapore in the mixed team event. The top seeds will be up against Malaysia in the summit clash on Monday. In the boxing ring, 35-year-old Mary Kom made it to the semi-finals by thrashing Scotland’s Megan Gordon. This is possibly her last appearance at the Games. India is holding on to their fourth position in the medals tally, having claimed seven gold, two silver and three bronze medals so far.