Day 9 report: Shooters Anish Bhanwala and Tejaswini Sawant clinched gold medals, while wrestlers earned four medals, including a golden show from Bajrang, even as five boxers entered the finals on a day India clinched 10 medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on Friday.
Among other success stories, Indian shuttlers claimed berths in seven semi-finals, while the women's doubles pair of Manika Batra and Mouma Das clinched the silver medal and seasoned men's doubles pair of Achanta Sharath Kamal and G. Sathiyan entered the summit clash in the table tennis competitions.
Manika Batra was part of the Indian women's table tennis team that stunned Singapore in the gold medal match in CWG 2018. Reuters
Indian boxers Vikas Krishan (75kg), Satish Kumar (91kg), Amit Panghal (49kg), Gaurav Solanki (52kg) and Manish Kaushik (60kg), along with MC Mary Kom, will fight in gold-medal bouts, while Naman Tanwar, Manoj Kumar and Mohammed Hussamuddin got bronze medals after losing in the semi-finals, even as the men's hockey team lost 2-3 to New Zealand in the semi-finals.
In squash, Dipika Pallikal partnered Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa to advanced to the final and semi-finals of the mixed doubles and women's doubles, respectively.
In athletics, Neeraj Chopra, Vipin Kashana and Jinson Johnson entered the finals of their respective events.
At the end of Friday, India remains third in the medal table — with 42 medals (17 gold, 11 silver and 14 bronze) — after Australia (168 medals) and England (99 medals).
The day began with Anish creating history by becoming the youngest Indian gold medallist with a win in the men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event. Anish fired 30 points — a Games record in the final.
Tejaswini and Anjum Moudgil clinched silver and gold, respectively, in the women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions to continue the strong performances from the shooters. Tejaswini registered a new Games record of 457.9 points, while Anjum scored 455.7.
Then the wrestlers, led by Bajrang, took charge. Bajrang won the gold medal in the 65kg category, while Mausam Khatri (97kg) and Pooja Dhanda (57kg) won a silver each and Divya Kakran (68kg) bagged a bronze medal.
In the women's section, Pooja lost 5-7 to defending champion Odunayo Adekuoroye of Nigeria in the final. Pooja had defeated Joseph Tiako of Cameroon 11-5 in the semi-finals. Divya defeated Sherin Sultana of Bangladesh by fall to take a bronze medal.
In hockey action, the men's and the women's hockey team will play the bronze medal playoffs against the teams from England on Saturday. On Friday, the Indian men's team failed to recover from a poor start, losing to New Zealand 2-3 in a semi-final.
In table tennis, India's women's doubles pair of Manika Batra and Mouma Das went down 0-3 (5-11, 4-11, 5-11) to Feng Tianwei and Yu Mengyu of Singapore in the gold medal clash. The other women's doubles pair of Sutirtha Mukherjee and Pooja Saharabudhe lost 1-3 (13-15, 7-11, 11-8, 7-11) to Ho Ying and Lyne Karen of Malaysia in the bronze medal match.
In the first men's doubles semi-final, Sharath and Sathiyan won 3-1 (7-11, 11-5, 11-1, 11-3) against Singapore opponents Yew En Koen Pang and Shao Feng Ethan Poh to guarantee at least a silver medal.
Veteran Sharath has also reached semi-finals in the singles and the mixed doubles categories — as are Mouma, Manika and Sathiyan.
In squash actions, the mixed doubles pair of Dipika and Saurav stormed into the final after defeating New Zealand's Joelle King and Paul Coll 2-1 (9-11, 11-8, 11-10). Dipika then joined Joshna to enter the women's doubles semi-finals after a 2-1 (7-11, 11-5, 11-9) win over Canada's Samantha Cornett and Nikki Todd.
In badminton, Saina Nehwal hardly broke a sweat to clinch a 21-8, 21-13 win over Canada's Rachel Honderich, while P.V. Sindhu also notched up a comfortable 21-14, 21-17 win over another Canadian, Brittney Tam.
In the men's singles, World No.1 Srikanth thrashed Singapore's Zin Rei Ryan 21-15, 21-12, while Prannoy eased past Sri Lankan Dinuka Karunaratna 21-13, 21-6 to set up a clash against Lee Chong Wei.
Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy also enjoyed strong performances to advance to the semi-finals in both the doubles categories. They fought off Malaysian mixed doubles pair Soon Goh Huat and Lai Shevon Jemie with a 21-19, 21-19 win to enter the final.
Ashwini and N Sikki Reddy comfortably thrashed the Sri Lankan pair of Hasini Ambalangodage and Madushika Dilrukshi Beruwelage 21-11, 21-13.
Satwik then paired up with Chirag Shetty to get past Malaysian men's doubles pair of Chan Peng Soon and Huat 21-14, 15-21, 21-9.
In athletics, Chopra and Kashana entered the final of the men's Javelin Throw. Chopra hurled the javelin to a distance of 80.42 metres to take the second place in Group A of the qualification round. Kashana registered 78.88m to qualify as the third thrower in Group B.
Later, Johnson finished second in Heat 2 of the men's 1,500m with a time of 3 minutes and 47.04 seconds.
With inputs from IANS
Updated Date: Apr 14, 2018 19:43 PM
Highlights
19:43 (IST)
What a brilliant day for Indian athletes at the Commonwealth Games 2018!
On Day 10, India won a whopping 17 medals to consolidate their third spot on the medals table.
Every wrestler in the Indian contingent returned with a medal from Gold Coast. On Saturday, Vinesh Phogat picked up her second successive gold at a CWG event. Other wrestlers who claimed medals on Friday were Sumit(Gold), Somveer(bronze) and Sakshi Malik (Bronze),
The impressive run of the boxers continued on day 10 as Mary Kom and Gaurav Solanki won gold in their CWG debut. While Vikas Krishan too added on to the gold rush of boxers, Manish Kaushik and Satish Kumar won silvers.
Sanjeev Rajput won a gold in the men's rifle 3 positions.
The Indian paddlers made history as Manika Batra became the first Indian woman shuttler to win a medal in the CWG 2018 when she won gold in the women's singles. Men's doubles pair of Harmeet Desai and Sanil Shetty won bronze while Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran won silver.
The Indian shuttlers had a mixed outing as the doubles pairings were tested to their limits after multiple matches in various categories. While Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu set up a mouth-watering singles clash in the gold medal match, HS Prannoy lost out to Lee Chong Wei in the semi-final and missed out of making an all Indians men's singles final. Kidambi Srikanth beat England's Rajeev Ouseph for a place in the final and the Englishman won a bronze defeating Prannoy. Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy won a bronze medal in the women's doubles
Defending women's doubles champions in squash, Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa entered the finals of the event and Dipika also won a silver in the mixed doubles final alongside Saurav Ghosal.
That's it from here, thank you for joining us and let's see if India end on a high on 15 April, the final day of the Commonwealth Games 2018 at Gold Coast, Australia
17:44 (IST)
Badminton: Mixed doubles
India's mixed doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy lose a hard-fought bronze medal match 19-21, 19-21
Despite playing her fourth match of the day, Ashwini managed to put up a good fight.
17:16 (IST)
Men's +91kg final
Satish claims sliver. Interesting decision from the judges. The Indian looked strong in Round 1 and Round 2. The third round was a tight affair.
Satish delivered a series of body blows and uppercuts in the first round and was defensively strong. Charles did his bit with quick jabs and straight punches. Anyway, another medal for an Indian boxer!
17:09 (IST)
Table tennis: Men's doubles
It's a silver for the Indian paddlers!
The match went down to the wire but Sathiyan G and Sharath Kamal just couldn't make the most of the chances at the end. Pitchford and Drinkhall wrapped up the tie 3-2 to claim gold.
17:01 (IST)
Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan G claim SILVER!
16:53 (IST)
The pair from England makes it 2-2 in the men's doubles final.
16:50 (IST)
Table tennis: Men's doubles final
After dropping the opening game 5-11, India's Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan G win the next two games 12-10, 11-9 to put favourites Drinkhall and Pitchford under pressure.
16:42 (IST)
Badminton: Men's singles
The momentum was in Ouseph's favour since the start of the decider. The Englishman gets the bronze medal after making an impressive fight back from a game down and 4-9 down in the second game to win 17-21, 25-23, 21-9.
Tough luck, Prannoy!
16:23 (IST)
Badminton: Men's singles
One game apiece between Prannoy and Ouseph!
What a thrilling end to the second game. Ouseph wins it 25-23 to force this bronze-medal match into the deciding game.
16:16 (IST)
Vikas Krishan wins GOLD!
16:16 (IST)
Table tennis: Men's doubles
India's Harmeet Desai and Sanil Shetty claim bronze after beating the Singaporean pair in straight games.
FULL-TIME: India 1-2 England
A 4th quarter without control gave the momentum to England and they clinched the bronze 2-1. India needed a smart moment, almost a miracle to beat this English side that played with pace and stopped the Indian midfield. Even the forward upfront couldn’t do much for India. Errors and turn overs gave space to England. For India who had finished with a silver in the last two editions, no medal is a come-down that too in a CWG.
15:59 (IST)
The Indian mixed doubles duo is high on confidence!
15:51 (IST)
Badminton: Men's singles
HS Prannoy wins the first game 21-17 to put one hand on the bronze medal. Rajiv Ouseph looked under pressure for the major part of the opening game.
GOAL: England 2-1 India
Slow defence and India concedes. England’s 5th PC and Amit Rohidas takes it on the stick but the rebound is picked up again by Sam Ward. No defender to pick it up. Ward hammers it in. It’s 2-1 to England. The momentum goes back to them.
India has missed a few chances. But again the control is missing in the Indian side. They do all the running but that last and final move is not happening. Like a truncated team, India plays…lacking a powerful midfield and a slow defence.
Still 1-1 between India and England!
Opportunities both sides. England miss another penalty corner, while India miss sharp chances in the circle.
15:28 (IST)
Some badminton updates coming your way...
India's HS Prannoy is up against Rajiv Ouseph of England in the men's singles bronze-medal match. The Indian shuttler lost to Lee Chong Wei, while Kidambi Srikanth defeated Ouseph in the semi-finals.
15:26 (IST)
Squash: Mixed doubles final
Silver for Dipika Pallikal and Saurav Ghoshal as the Indian duo lose to Australia’s Donna Urquhart and Cameron Pilley in straight games.
HALF-TIME: India 1-1 England
India need some structure in the midfield. Except for Manpreet, the rest lack speed, vision for an entire 4 quarters. Two moves in a match don’t make you win big. The match still completely open for both teams. India need to make good on the opportunities.
15:13 (IST)
SILVER for Dipika Pallikal and Saurav Ghosal
GOAL! India equalise
At 1-1, India is playing a better 2nd quarter. They have changed the attack pattern to the left. India gains a PC and a wonderful back flip and then Varun shoots home. India on the front foot. Manpreet had a shot and then Mandeep lost his footing. India charged up and hopefully they carry it to the 3rd Q. But some sting coming back into the match for India. Changes create a different pattern and India did just that.
15:06 (IST)
GOLD FOR MANIKA!
The 22-year-old brings home first ever women's singles Commonwealth Games medal. That too in style with a GOLD. Third gold in table tennis for India at Gold Coast. She just outclassed Mengyu Yu 4-0 in the final.
15:03 (IST)
Manika Batra wins GOLD
14:57 (IST)
Table tennis: Women's singles
Mengyu Yu got rattled in that game. She was confused by the constant twiddle by Manika. She seemed to be lacking confidence too. Brilliant game from Manika. She takes a 3-0 lead with an 11-2 win in the third game.
England 1-0 India
England playing up and tough. India lacking thrust. This was supposed to be a team with young legs. Faltering at the moment. But still, three quarters left. Lot of play for India to get an equaliser and then try and win the match. But they need to do something different. This is getting predictable a bit.
14:53 (IST)
Table tennis: Women' singles final
Manika makes it 2-0 with an 11-6 win in the second game. A couple of brilliant backhand down the lines and then strong forehand topspins from Manika had Mengyu Yu on the back foot in that game. Manika is able to produce so much backspin on her backhand defence. She needs to continue with the same momentum.
ENGLAND 1-0 INDIA
India down a goal as the PC conversion is direct and no defenders or Sreejesh could sight the ball. Ward’s conversion on the carpet is perfect. India is rattled. The midfield lacks the punch to be able to turn around the fortunes. Unless they do full press now and use the aerial balls to a forward upfront. Can’t take pressure without giving it back. England 1-0.
14:45 (IST)
Manika Batra takes 1-0 lead in women's singles final!
Time for some hockey action!
Winning a bronze is important for the rest of the tournaments in the year. England will be tough customers. They understand what happened in the last match against India. For most of the players in this team, who will be playing the World Cup and the Asian Games, a win here will give them belief and confidence; a medal has those kinds of powers.
14:34 (IST)
Badminton: Women's doubles
Ashwini and Sikki claim bronze after beating Australia's Setyana Mapasa and Gronya Somerville 21-19, 21-19. The combination between the two was a treat to watch. Sikki covered the net, while Ashwini was successfully finding angles to hit winners
14:33 (IST)
Ashwini Ponnappa - Sikki Reddy claim BRONZE!
14:03 (IST)
14:02 (IST)
Badminton: Women's doubles bronze-medal match
India's Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy win first game 21-19. A very close encounter but Gronya Somerville and Mapasa won't give up easily.
The second game gets underway!
14:00 (IST)
Wrestling:
India’s Somveer wins bronze in his category. That's 12 medals won by Indian wrestlers at Gold Coast! The Indian wrestler beat Canada’s Alexander Moore 7-3 in the bronze-medal match.
13:48 (IST)
Somveer wins BRONZE!
Vinesh Phogat’s gold medal in the women’s 50kg wrestling came as a big relief to the team after Babita Phogat and Pooja Dhanda finished with silver and Sakshi Malik with a bronze medal. Vinesh, who suffered a knee injury at a crucial stage of her Olympic Games quarterfinals in Rio in 2016, was confident that she would claim gold in Gold Coast. After two wins and when she had a break, she chose to move away from the wrestling arena to watch Neeraj Chopra win javelin throw gold. She returned to beat Canadian Jessica MacDonald quite easily. India now has a tally of five gold, three silver and three bronze medals so far. Somveer can add a bronze.
ICYMI:
Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik picked up the bronze medal in the Commonwealth Games women’s 62kg class with a narrow victory over Tayla Ford in her final bout in the five-player league. She would be disappointed that she had only two wins in the four matches, her losses to eventual gold medallist Amnat Adeniyi and Canada’s Michael Fazzari proving too costly for her. Her only satisfaction would be that she put up a fight against the Nigerian who had beaten her comfortably in the final of the 58kg class in Glasgow four years ago.
Wrestling: Men's 125kg Nordic
Sumit Malik, 25, bagged the men’s freestyle 125kg class gold, winning three of his four scheduled bouts and securing a walk-over from the injured Nigerian Sinivie Botlic. The Delhi-based boxer who was born in Rohtak in Haryana, became the fourth Indian grappler to win gold in Gold Coast after Sushil Kumar, Rahul Aware and Bajrang Punia.
Athletics: Men's 4 x 400m relay final
Amoh Jacob pulled up injured after about 80m on the second leg of the men’s 4x400m relay final and brought an early end of India’s campaign in the Commonwealth Games track and field competition. After Ayyasamy Dharun had run a good opening leg, India was in the mix. With its better quarter-milers Arokiya Rajiv and Muhammad Anas Yahiya waiting to run the last two legs, India would have hoped to be in the race for the lesser medals with The Bahamas, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. Botswana justified the overwhelming favouritism and won gold.
India finished the track and field competition with one gold (Neeraj Chopra, men’s javelin throw), a silver (Seema Punia, women’s discus) and a bronze (Navjeet Kaur Dhillon, women’s discus). There were some other fine efforts, not the least coming from Muhammad Anas Yahiya (400m) and Jinson Johnson (men’s 1500) who both set National records, women’s 400m runner Hima Das, 10000m runner L Suriya and heptathlete Purnima Hembram who came up with personal best efforts.
13:22 (IST)
Gold for Vinesh Phogat
13:21 (IST)
Wrestling: Women's freestyle 50kg
Oh, drama!
Canada's Jessica Macdonald challenges as Vinesh takes a 13-3 lead. A 10-point lead but the referees are still discussing over Vinesh's two-point takedown. Oh, the challenge has been upheld. So. it's 11-3. Vinesh needs two points
13:09 (IST)
Men's 125kg Nordic
Sumit Malik claims the gold medal after his final group opponent, Nigeria’s Sinivie Boltic, gives him a walkover!
13:04 (IST)
Sumit Kumar claims GOLD!
13:03 (IST)
Wrestling: Women's 69kg freestyle
Sakshi Malik wins bronze after a thrilling contest against Tayla Ford of New Zealand. Sakshi was leading 6-2 with seconds to go in the second period before her opponent scored one one-point and a two-pointer to make it 6-5.
12:55 (IST)
Sakshi Malik wins BRONZE!
12:41 (IST)
Table tennis: Sharath Kamal loses in men's singles semis
Aruna, with his power and placement, edges Sharath in the men's singles semis to head into the gold medal match. It was a 0-4 loss but the scoreline doesn't reflect true picture, it was a close battle. Some scintillating TT on display. Aruna won crunch moments.
12:32 (IST)
Table tennis: Men's singles semi-final
It's end to end stuff. Sharath squandered a crucial lead at the fag end of the game and lost the game from a 9-7 lead. Some unforced errors and also good placements from Aruna. Aruna is 3-0 up and one game away from Gold Medal match. A huge task in front of Sharath now.
Jinson Johnson rewrites one of the oldest National records, the 1500m, when he drew on the pace set by the Kenyan trio of Elijah Montonei Manangoi, Timothy Cheruiyot and Kumari Taki as well as Australian Luke Mathews to finish a most creditable fifth. His time of 3:37.86 broke Bahadur Prasad’s record of 3:38.00 set in the SAF Games in Chennai way back in December 1995. The 27-year-old Kerala runner’s own previous best was 3:39.69 set in the Federation Cup in Patiala last month. Along with the fine efforts by the 400m runners Muhammad Anas Yahiya and Hima Das as well that of 10000m runner L Suriya, the armyman Jinson Johnson infused hope that India’s track athletes would continue to provide the surprise element even if they did not win medals.
12:21 (IST)
Table tennis: Men's singles semi-final
Aruna upped his aggression in that game. Sharath was 0-3 down, bounced back but then lost the rhythm again, probably being pegged back by Aruna's aggression. He again fought back but the lead that Aruna had taken helped him take that crucial game point at 11-9. Some extra-ordinary rallies being played in that game.
12:11 (IST)
Table tennis: Men's singles semi-final
Aruna takes the first game 12-10. Neck and neck stuff between the two champions, Sharath Kamal saved two match points but Aruna held his nerve to win the third one. Both the players tried to push each other on the backhand. Sharath needs to bounce back quickly.