Mizoram teenager Jeremy Lalrinnunga and Achinta Sheuli continued the country's dominance in the weightlifting arena with a superlative gold-winning performances, which pushed India to the top six on the medal table on Day 3 of the Commonwealth Games, in Birmingham, Sunday.
Making his debut in a multi-discipline Games at the senior level, Lalrinnunga, the 19-year-old reigning Youth Olympic champion, battled excruciating muscle cramps but shattered two records en route the gold medal in the men's 67kg category.
This was India's second gold at CWG after Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Mirabai Chanu bagged the first medal on Saturday.
Later in the day, Achinta Sheuli (73kg) lived up to his top billing, clinching India's third gold at the Commonwealth Games.
Favourite to win the event, debutant Sheuli heaved 313kg (143kg+170kg) to emerge triumphant.
India now have six medals, all coming from the weightlifting arena at the National Exhibition Centre, with Sanket Sargar (silver), Bidyarani Devi (silver) and Gururaj Poojary (bronze) also earning podium finishes on Saturday.
The Manpreet Singh-led Indian men's hockey team also kicked off their campaign on a rousing note, thrashing Ghana 11-0 in a Pool B match.
India also resumed their rivalry against Pakistan on the cricketing field with a facile eight-wicket victory in a rain-curtailed women's T20 contest at Edgbaston.
In boxing, World champion Nikhat Zareen stormed into the quarter-finals, while there was disappointment in store for Shiva Thapa, who crashed out in the Round of 16.
India also remained in medal contention in table tennis, squash and lawn bowls, entering the quarter-finals of their respective events.
There was however disappointment in store in the triathlon, as the quartet of Adarsh Muralidharan Nair Sinimol, Pragnya Mohan, Vishwanath Yadav and Sanjana Sunil Joshi clocked a total time of 1:31:43s to finish 10th among 12 teams.
In cycling too, Ronaldo Laitonjam lost out in pre-quarter-finals of men's sprint event, while Indian gymnasts Yogeshwar Singh and Ruthuja Nataraj signed off at 15th and 17th spots in the men's and women's all-around artistic gymnastics finals respectively.
Here's how India's athletes fared on Day 3 at the Commonwealth Games:
Weightlifting:
On a day Popy Hazarika (women's 59kg) became the first of six weightlifters who failed to win a medal after a forgettable seventh place finish, Army teenager Jeremy stamped his class.
Overcoming cramps, he first bettered the Games snatch mark with a successful 140kg attempt and then lifted 160kg in clean and jerk to take his aggregate to 300kg, a new CWG record.
A massive 7kg difference from his nearest rival Samoa's Vaipava Ioane (127kg +166kg) summed up the dominance of the 19-year-old, who first made headlines by winning a historic gold at the Youth Olympics in 2018.
Nigeria's Edidiong Umoafia took bronze with an effort of 290kg (130kg+160kg).
"I completely blanked out and was clueless about what was going around me. I was like blind and cried a lot (after the failed attempt)," Jeremy said, after winning gold.
"I never followed the other lifts; it was so painful. Crying out aloud, I asked the coach medal aya ke nahin (did I get a medal)? Coach sir told me gold hai hamara (you have won the gold) and it soothed my nerves.
"This medal is dedicated to my fellow-countrymen and soldiers who fight at the borders. This is my way of serving the country," said Jeremy, as he saluted the National Flag while the Tricolour went up during the prize ceremony.
Achinta Sheuli heaved 313kg (143kg+170kg) to grab the gold in the 73kg category.
Hockey:
In search of an elusive gold, the Indian men's hockey team, which has won two silver medals (2010 and 2014), dished out an emphatic show to rout minnows Ghana 11-0 in a lopsided contest.
Showcasing exceptional teamwork, the Tokyo Olympics bronze medalists displayed fluid gameplay and a total of eight Indian players scored goals, including a hat-trick by star drag-flicker and India's vice-captain Harmanpreet.
Abhishek, Harmanpreet, Shamsher Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Jugraj Singh, Neelkant Sharma, Varun Kumar and Mandeep Singh were the other scorers.
Cricket:
The Indo-Pak affair turned out to be a no-contest as the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side scored its first victory of the Games.
Pakistan's decision to bat first backfired as India bowled them out for a meagre 99 in the 18 overs-a-side contest after a rain-delayed the start.
In reply, Smriti Mandhana (63 not out off 42 balls), led the chase as India gunned down the target in just 11.4 overs.
Boxing:
World champion Nikhat Zareen sailed into the last eight of women's 50kg, but it was curtains for Shiva Thapa as he crashed out of the men's 63.5kg.
Zareen knocked out Helena Ismael Bagao of Mozambique, winning by RSC (Referee stopping the contest).
Former World Championship bronze medalist Thapa lost 1-4 to Scotland's Reese Lynch.
Table Tennis:
Defending champions India stormed into the semi-finals of the men's table tennis team event, thrashing Bangladesh 3-0 in the third last-eight tie.
The team, led by Achanta Sharath Kamal, had outclassed Barbados, Singapore and Northern Ireland by identical 3-0 margins in the group stage to make the quarter-finals.
Squash:
Ace Indian squash player Joshna Chinappa outplayed New Zealand's Kaitlyn Watts 3-1 to progress to the women's singles quarter-finals in her bid for an elusive gold.
The 18-time National champion kept her calm to recover from a mid-game slump to prevail 11-8, 9-11, 11-4, 11-6 against Watts and set up a last-eight clash with Canada's Hollie Naughton.
Swimming:
At the faraway Sandwell Aquatics Centre, Srihari Natraj came back less than 24 hours after particiating in the 100m backstroke final to make the semi-finals in 50m backstroke.
The 21-year-old Indian from Bengaluru was the second fastest swimmer in his heat and eighth fastest overall as he clocked 25.52 seconds to advance.
