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India at CWG: Lifters' medal haul continues; shuttlers, boxers unbeaten

Last updated on: April 06, 2018 19:44 IST

A summary of Indian athletes' showing at the Commonwealth Games on Day 2.

Sanjita Chanu

IMAGE: India’s Sanjita Chanu waves to the crowd after completing her routine in the Commonwealth Games’ women's 53 kg weightlifting competition on Friday. Photograph: Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters

The Indian weightlifting juggernaut continued at the Commonwealth Games, with Sanjita Chanu and Deepak Lather adding a gold and bronze to the team's tally, and the shuttlers and boxers staying unbeaten on the second day, in Gold Coast, on Friday.

 

If Mirabai Chanu was the toast of the nation on Thursday, it was the turn of Sanjita Chanu to hog the limelight with a gold and Games snatch record in the 53 kg category.

The diminutive Manipuri lifted a total of 192 kg (84+108) to claim the gold.

Ensuring that the men also had a share in the day's exploits, Deepak Lather became the youngest Indian weightlifter to claim a Commonwealth Games medal, winning bronze in the 69kg category.

Deepak Lather

IMAGE: India's Deepak Lather clears 135 kg in Snatch during the men's 69 kg weightlifting on Day 2 of the Commonwealth Games. Photograph: Michael Steele/Getty Images

While Lather had luck on his side, as his nearest rival fouled the all-important final clean and jerk lift, Chanu had her fortitude to thank as she claimed her second successive Games gold despite nursing a nagging back problem here.

The contrast between the two Indians couldn't have been more striking. While Chanu broke down in tears when she was presented her medal, Lather was grinning ear to ear and in mild disbelief at his good fortune.

"I was just sitting inside and hoping the Samoan would fail in his attempt. I know it's bad to wish ill for someone but I couldn't help it," Lather said, breaking into a laughter after the medal ceremony.

The only disappointment in the weightlifting arena was Saraswati Rout in the women's 58 kg category. She failed to complete a single valid lift in the snatch section and was disqualified from clean and jerk as a result.

Navneet Kaur

IMAGE: India's Navneet Kaur tries to work her way past a host of Malaysian defenders. Photograph: Phil Walter/Getty Images

There were several other good results to celebrate for India though, a prominent one being the women's hockey team bringing its campaign back on track with a 4-1 thrashing of Malaysia.

The triumph helped the side recover from the shocking 2-3 loss to lower-ranked Wales in the tournament-opener.

The Indians continued to be the big bullies of the badminton court, dismantling Scotland to top their mixed team event group and advance to the quarter-finals.

Saina Nehwal was in rampaging form and took down Julie Macpherson in just 36 minutes during the mostly one-sided contest, which India won 5-0.

"I think that these wins in the tournament are important because they give us confidence moving forward,” said Kidambi Srikanth, who defeated Kieran Merrilees in straight games during the rubber.

Naman Tanwar

IMAGE: India's Naman Tanwar lands a left jab on Tanzania's Haruna Mhando. Photograph: Jason O'Brien/Getty Images

In the boxing ring, Commonwealth Games debutants Amit Panghal (49 kg) and Naman Tanwar (91 kg) were hardly pushed as they recorded unanimous victories to enter the last-eight stage.

On the squash court, Joshna Chinnappa entered the quarter-finals with a 3-0 win over Australia's Tamika Saxby.

The day was, however, not without its fair share of disappointments, a big one among them being Dipika Pallikal in the women's singles squash competition.

She went down to England's Alison Waters 0-3 in her pre-quarter-final.

Former Asian gold-medallist Deborah Herold made the final heat of the women's sprint event in cycling but lost to Australian Kaarle McCulloch and bowed out of medal contention.

Top Indian cyclist Deborah Herold failed to qualify for the quarter-finals in the women's sprint event.

Deborah and her team-mate Aleena Reji did make it to the round of 16 after finishing 13th and 16th respectively in the qualifying round but both failed to advance beyond that.

Deborah lost to Kaarle McCulloch of Australia in the round of 16 race while Aleena was beaten by another host country cyclist Stephanie Morton.

Deborah and Aleena will participate in Women's 500m Time Trial Final tomorrow.

All the other Indian cyclists crashed out in the qualifying rounds in their respective events.

Manjeet Singh finished 24th in men's 4000m individual pursuit qualifying while Sahil Kumar, Ranjit Singh and Sanuraj Sanandraj made exits at the Keirin event first round.

Para-swimmer Kiran Tak finished seventh and last in the women's S9 100m backstroke event.

In a seven-woman field, Kiran finished last in the qualifying heat with a time of 1 minute 46.29 seconds.

All the seven qualified for the finals where Kiran again finished last, this time with a worse time of 1:47.95.

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