While You Were Asleep: Weightlifter Gurdeep Singh, High jumper Tejaswin Shankar bag bronze; Nikhat, Nitu & Hussamuddin assure medals in boxing; India Women cricket team beat Barbados

Punjab weightlifter Gurdeep Singh won the bronze medal with a total lift of 390 kg in the men’s 109+ kg in Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Pakistan’s Muhammad Nooh Butt won the gold with a games record total lift of 405 kg while David Andrew of New Zealand won the bronze with a total lift of 394 kg.

It’s Raining Medals for 🇮🇳 #TeamIndia

Kudos to Gurdeep Singh for winning Bronze medal in #CWG2022 in the Men’s 109+kg weight category.

Singh comes from Majri Rasluri village near #Khanna. He lifted a total of 390kg (167kg in Snatch + 223kg in C&J). pic.twitter.com/MV8UiRCYEh

— Punjab Police India (@PunjabPoliceInd) August 4, 2022

“I had a wrist injury so couldn’t give my best in snatch otherwise I would have landed a silver,” said the seven-time national champion.

Nikhat, Nitu, Hussamuddin assure India of medals

Three Indian pugilists, including Nikhat Zareen, reached the semifinals in their respective events after nail-biting victories while Lovlina Borgohain made a last eight exit in the Commonwealth Games. With their wins, Zareen (50kg), Nitu Ganghas (48kg) and Mohammed Hussamudin (57kg) assured India of three boxing medals.

🗣️ #CWG2022 bound @NituGhanghas333 talks about her father’s immeasurable sacrifices to help her fulfill her dreams and more in this interview ahead of the @birminghamcg22.

Read @IndianExpress‘ full article here 🗞️👇@Nitinsharma631#PunchMeinHaiDum 2.0#B2022#Boxing pic.twitter.com/tr4oVnvMCL

— Boxing Federation (@BFI_official) July 19, 2022

“Lovlina is disappointed with her third round hand movements. The biggest setback was the warning and it turned it around in favour of Rosie,” national coach Bhaskar Bhatt told PTI. He also added, “It was an unexpected decision and we are unhappy about this. We could have won the bout easily but that one warning cost us dear”.

Tejaswin becomes first Indian to win medal in CWG high jump

Tejaswin Shankar opened the Indian athletics team’s medal account with a bronze in the men’s high jump event in the Commonwealth Games, late on Wednesday. National record holder Shankar cleared 2.22m to finish third in the event. The 23-year-old Shankar, who was added in the squad last-minute on the orders of Delhi High Court, has a season’s best of 2.27m and personal best of 2.29m.

“I had a long (US) collegiate season and started jumping in January but getting a bronze here is like a dream come true and I’m just happy to take something back home with me,” Shankar said.

Indian women’s cricket team beat Barbados by 100 runs

A comprehensive bowling performance meant India women sealed their final Group A match vs Barbados with a 100 run win. Qualified alongside Australia for the semifinal from the group. With the win, India finished second behind Australia (6 points from 3 matches) in Group A with four points from two wins. They had beaten Pakistan and lost to Australia in their earlier matches.

A fantastic victory for #TeamIndia.

They win by 100 runs and advance into the semi-finals at the #CWG2022 👏👏

Scorecard – https://t.co/upMpWogmIP #INDvBAR #B2022 pic.twitter.com/uH6u7psVmG

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) August 3, 2022

Medium pacer Renuka Singh ran through Barbados’ top order with a four-wicket haul as India beat their lowly opponents.

Shivani Naik is trotting around Brummie land in Birmingham for the Commonwealth Games. As the Brummies say, her features are ‘bosting’ (brilliant!). As ever, some incredible stories are pouring in from the lives of inspirational athletes to how they do what they do in their sport. Did you know how a girl born in China landed up in Canada to become a gold medallist? Or the hysteria around Mirabai Chanu at the Games. Watch the CWG drama unfold through Shivani’s eyes and wisdom by clicking here

Meanwhile, in Chennai, wizards of Chess from all over the world have gathered for the Chess Olympiad. From Magnus Carlsen, who walked in like a deity, to hometown’s love R Praggnanandhaa, everyone is there. Also present is our own Sandip G, weaving poetic-prose with insights on some amazing life stories of players and tactical game play. He doesn’t miss a beat, so that you don’t miss the significance of any move. Please click here for Sandip G’s stories