CWG 2014: Mali wins bronze in weightlifting, India's boxers disappoint

Glasgow: Chandrakant Mali added another medal from the weightlifting arena after he won a bronze in men’s 94kg, while India’s top squash players Dipika Pallikal and Joshana Chinappa started their campaign in women’s doubles with a victory in the 20th Commonwealth Games here. However, it turned out to be a bad outing for Indian pugilists, and with an exception of L Sarita Devi, none of the other three boxers in fray could advance to the next round. Mali totalled 338kg (150 + 188) to finish third on the podium. He could lift 146kg and 150kg in his first two chances in snatch but failed to lift 153kg in his third attempt. In clean and jerk, he lifted 183kg and 188kg before failing to clear 194kg mark. Steven Kukuna Kari of Papua New Guinea bagged the gold medal with a total of 349 and Australia’s Simplice Ribouem won the silver with and identical score, but Kari took the top honours owing to lesser body weight. India, who are leading the standings in weightlifting, have so far won three gold, as many silver and five bronze. Meanwhile, the fifth seeded Indian duo of Pallikal and Chinappa won the women’s double Pool D match 2-0 (11-3 11-4). [caption id=“attachment_1640921” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Mali during the weightlifting match. AP[/caption] The men, however, faltered as the pair of Saurav Ghosal and Harinder Pal Sandhu proved to be no match for 10th seeds Peter Creed and David Evans of Wales in men’s double Pool D match at the Scotstoun Campus. The seventh seeded Indians lost 2-0 (11-8 11-3). In boxing, Sarita knocked out Nigeria’s Kehinde Obareh 2-0 to advance to the quarterfinals in women’s 57-60kg. The 32-year-old Manipuri boxer notched up 10:9 verdicts in both the rounds. She will now take on Welsh Charlene Jones in the quarterfinals. In women’s 75kg round of 16 bout, Pooja Rani lost to fancied 2012 World Boxing Championships winner Savannah Marshall of England 0-3 on points in an unanimous decision of the three judges. All the three judges gave identical 10-9 verdicts in the four rounds, indicating a close fight. It was also curtains for defending champion Manoj Kumar, who lost his last eight bout. In the men’s lightweight 64kg bout, the Games ended rather early for Manoj as he proved to be no match for England’s Samuel Maxwell, who registered a 3-0 victory over his opponent from India. The Englishman won with identical score lines of 27:30 in each of the three rounds. Sumit Sangwan, too, lost his quarterfinals bout to David Nyika of New Zealand 1-2. Sangwan was leading after the first round but lost the plot thereafter. PTI