Highlights, Commonwealth Games 2018 Gold Coast, Day 8: Wrestlers Sushil Kumar, Rahul Aware win gold; India claim two medals in athletics

FT: India 0-1 Australia

It’s not all over; huge amount of positives. There is a massive difference in the team that went to Rio and what we have seen at the CWG. Harendra needs an attacking midfield that has the legs and the power to find the player up front. The middle half lacked for India. Yet they had the chances. Defended stoutly; great future. We now look forward to the bronze medal match.

Two sharp misses by India in the last two minutes. India couldn’t find the equaliser. No doubt, Australia was the better team. But you had the feeling that India were scattered in the 2nd and 3rd quarter. They needed to regroup and they didn’t. They came together at the end of the 4th quarter. But that was also because Australia yielded space. India could have gone closer, that would remain with them. Still a good campaign as India will fight it out for a bronze.

Three penalty corners blown by India. Not done in a semi-final. Australia lead 1-0. India could have easily equalised. But the belief seems to be slipping. India looked tired. Do they have enough strength for a few final assaults? They can if they build up to it. It’s a great opportunity for an equaliser. Create it.

Just 15 minutes to salvage something from this match. They began well. But crumbled later. Not in terms of goals but structure. They are defending and defending. Need to make some inroads into the Aussie striking circle. Australia lead 1-0.

GOAL! Australia 1-0 India

One mistake and India concede. High ball and Stewart connects and the ‘tennis volley’ goes in; lovely goal. But it could have been avoided. India making too many mistakes. Giving away the ball too easily. If India don’t get some control back, there could be trouble.

India needs to give the ball early. Pressure from Aussies is making India commit mistakes in the midfield and just outside the striking circle. As a counter measure if India can just stretch the flanks, Australia could be surprised. It’s goalless in the 3rd Q. Australia will come strongly now.

And that’s the end of second quarter. India defending in numbers and attacking towards the end of second quarter. But Australia has the edge. They still haven’t got the Indian defence breaking. Goalkeeper Savita has come up with three penalty corners. In the 1st quarter, Australia had two penalty corners. India has been resolute but they need a little sharpness upfront. Long shots could also do it.

India slightly frustrated; five Indian defenders trying to crowd out one Aussie player. But that leaves gaps which one cross can exploit. India needs to hold the ball and stretch the players; too many coming together.

Women’s discus throw final:

Seema Punia and Navjeet Kaur Dhillon fetched India’s first medals from track and field sport with silver and bronze respectively in women’s discus throw. The 34-year-old Seema Punia’s first throw over 60.41m was good to get her the silver medal – her fourth medal in successive Commonwealth Games since 2006. The Haryana girl who is now based in Meerut after the marriage has three silver medals and a bronze from the Games. Her 23-year-old team-mate Navjeet Kaur Dhillon, a bronze medallist at the world u-20 championships in 2014, lifted herself from fourth place by uncorking a gallant effort on her final throw. It went over 57.43m and past New Zealand’s Sostina Hakeai’s 57.16m. Australia’s Dani Stevens retained her hold on gold medal won in Glasgow 2014 with a stunning series of throws, including a Games record of 68.26m to erase New Zealand’s Beatrice Raini Liua Faumuina’s mark of 65.92m in 1998.

Navjeet Dhillon bags bronze in discus throw final

Seema Punia wins silver in discus throw final

Even though India look organised, this yellow card is not on. India’s Navneet Kaur gets a five-minute suspension. Australia realise pressure may break India in the midfield and they are going all out. India have to defend and look for a counter.

Purnima Hembram finished the four events on the opening day of the gruelling heptathlon competition in sixth place with 3441 points. She strove hard to keep pace with the leaders in her 200m heats but was unable to hold pace till the end and stopped the clock at 25.12 seconds. She has a personal best of 24.82 seconds set in July last year. The 23-year-old Odia will, however, draw satisfaction from the fact that she is in a better position at this stage than she was in Patiala last month when she achieved her personal best.

Such a change this team. They take the pressure and also attack. At the moment, India are soaking it in. Australia going full press. End of Q1. It’s still goalless.

Table tennis: Women’s singles

Mouma Das campaign comes to an end in the quarter-finals of the women’s singles event after suffering a 4-1 loss to Mengyu Yu, losing 13-15, 7-11, 5-11, 11-7, 5-11.

Australia full press now. India giving the ball easily away. Turn-overs benefitting the Aussies. India needs rotation. Find their player and make it count. Make the Aussies work.

Women’s discuss shot put 

Australia’s Dani Stevens recorded a 65.43, which is more than five metres longer than Seema Punia’s best effort so far. Looks like the Australian has won the gold here. Navjeet Dhillon is struggling at the moment. 

Full press from India, they want an early goal. That’s the only way India can put some pressure. But the crucial factor will be whether India can keep their structure for all the 4 Quarters or not. They have to be compact and tight in the defence. Australia then get two consecutive PC’s. Savita saves the 2nd. But India has blown a referral.

Early attack and almost a goal or a PC for India. Vanda and Rani make their move. Rani, just delays that shot and probably that moment went.

Women’s Discuss throw final:

India’s Seema Punia throws an excellent 60.41 in her first attempt. She is second on the table behind the local thrower Dani Stevens. Great start! 

Big night for Indian women; they are playing the CWG Semis against Australia. Packed stadium. It’s also Harendra Singh Vs Paul Gaudoin, both former players now coaching India and Australia. The Aussies are favourites. Harendra says sometimes being favourite has a different kind of pressure. Here we go – India Vs Australia

And it is time for the women’s hockey semi-final, where Rani Rampal-led India take on Australia for a place in the Commonwealth Games 2018 final

Women’s Discus throw final:

India’s Seema Punia throws an excellent 60.41 in her first attempt. She is second on the table behind the local thrower Dani Stevens. Great start! 

Neena Pinto went within 8cm of being among the top eight competitors in the women’s long jump final when she leapt to a distance of 6.19m. Had she matched her 6.28m from the Federation Cup in Patiala last month, the 27-year-old may have earned herself three more jumps and a chance to improve her position. The greater disappointment was Nayana James, 22. Had she even matched what she had achieved during qualification, 6.34m, let alone the 6.51m she got in Patiala, she would have among the top three at the halfway stage of the finals. Instead, with a best jump of 6.14m, she was 12th and last.

Table tennis: Women’s singles

India’s 22-year-old paddler Manika Batra advances to the last four of the competition with a 4-1 win over Singapore’s Zhou. Batra attacked from the beginning to put her opponent under pressure. 

A brilliant win for the youngster! 

Badminton: Women’s doubles

Ashwini Ponnappa – Sikki Reddy off to a good start in their women’s doubles match against Singaporean pair after clinching the first game 21-18.  

Table tennis: Women’s singles 

Manika Batra missed out on registering a clean-sweep win over Zhou after dropping the fourth game 6-11. That’s okay. She still leads 3-1 in this tie. One more game and she’ll enter the last four. 

Dat guy Bolt 

Infinity War @chrishemsworth #Thor @avengers #GoldCoast #commonwealthgames2018 🙌🏽 pic.twitter.com/3YQjH1DsAz

— Usain St. Leo Bolt (@usainbolt) April 12, 2018

Purnima Hembram remained in seventh place in the heptathlon standings after the shot-put event. Her best effort of 11.75m was worth 645 points and took her tally to 2565 from three events. Having got a personal best of 11.93m last year, she would have expected to draw energy from the big stage and go close to the 12m mark but she had to settle for a 29cm improvement on her effort in the Federation Cup in Patiala last month. She has a better tally at this stage than in the Federation Cup where she logged her personal best of 5815 points.

Table tennis: Women’s singles

India’s Manika Batra is coasting against Singaporean paddler Yihan Zhou as she takes the first two games quite comfortably. She is so good with her forehand shots. 

Women’s Heptathlon Shot Put

India’s Purnima Hembram’s first shot put attempt is 11.75. That’s the seventh best in the field. 

So, after three heptathlon events, Purnima is placed seventh overall with 2,565 points. 

Badminton: Men’s doubles

Men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advance to quarters of men’s doubles after beating Mauritian pair Lubah/Paul 21-8, 21-12

Badminton: Women’s singles 

Saina Nehwal advances to the quarter-finals of women’s singles event, with her opponent Jessica Li retiring hurt in the 2nd game after surrendering the first 4-21

We have missed out on a lot of action thanks to wrestling! 

In table tennis, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Manika Batra defeated Canada’s Marko Medjugorac Marko and Alicia Cote 8-11, 13-11, 12-10, 8-11 and 4-11 in mixed doubles competition.

Sutritha Mukherjee – Pooja Sahasrabudhe defeated Canada’s Alicia Cote – Mo Zhang. On the other hand, Manika Batra – Mouma Das registered a 3-1 win over Ho Tin-Tin – Maria Tsaptsinos in women’s doubles last-16 event. 

In men’s doubles, Harmeet Desai – Sanil Shetty eased past Paul McCreery – Ashley Robinson to enter the quarter-finals. Sharath Kamal – Sathiyan G too strolled past Sri Lankan duo.  
Elsewhere in squash, Dipika Pallikar and Saurav Ghosal defeated Malaysia’s Sanjay Singh and Azman Aifa 7-11, 11-6, 11-8 to reach the next round.

Long before Twitterati could write 280 characters, Sushil Kumar established his vast superiority over South Africa’s Johannes Botha in the final bout of the 74kg class and complete his hat-trick of Commonwealth Games gold medals. India’s 34-year-old former World champion and two-time medallist in Olympic Games in the 66kg class did not have to break into a sweat in sending the 28-year-old from Pretoria packing. It was almost as if he just had to turn up at the mat and take the gold but there is no doubt that Sushil Kumar has taken great care to be fit and competitive in what is his first major outing since the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. I the intervening years, he was disappointed by the Wrestling Federation of India not holding a trial to pick the Indian team for the Olympic Games in Rio.

Wrestling: Men’s freestyle 75kg 

Well, that escalated quickly. Sushil Kumar beats Johannes Botha in the final of men’s freestyle 75kg. The defending champion didn’t let his opponent make a single attempt as Sushil wraps up the match in less than 80 seconds.

GOLD MEDAL FOR SUSHIL KUMAR!

Wrestling: Men’s Freestyle 74 kg

Sushil Kumar is in action. Will he defend his title?

Kiran Bishnoi, 26, made her Commonwealth Games wrestling debut a happy one by winning the bronze medal with a facile victory over Mauritius Katouskia Pariadhaven in the 76kg class. Of course, she will be disappointed that she could not feature in the gold medal bout after losing the semifinals to Nigerian Blessing Onyebuchi without much of a fight. Kiran Bishnoi is the reigning Commonwealth champion in the 72kg class. She would have realised that the CWG are a different proposition. Yet, the manner in which she bounced back from that reverse to win the bronze should hold out hope.

India’s 26-year-old Rahul Babasahed Aware realised his dream of winning the Commonwealth Games gold in the 57kg class, six years after he won the Commonwealth Championship in the 55kg class. He had to watch Amit Kumar Dahiya compete and win the CWG 57kg gold in Glasgow in 2014. Having won the silver medal in the 61kg class in the Commonwealth Championship last year, the wrestler from Marathwada region reduced his body weight for the Gold Coast competition now. In a bout in which leads changed hands frequently, Rahul Aware managed to gain total control in the latter half of the second period with a calm approach and quick thinking to create and seize opportunities for a richly deserved gold. It would have settled some of his angst at having run into disciplinary issues with the Wrestling Federation of India ahead of the Rio Olympic Games after it seemed to favour Sandeep Tomar for a qualifying event.

Wrestling: Women’s freestyle 76 kg

Kiran claims the bronze medal via repechage as she raced to a 10-0 lead in the first period against Mauritius’s Katouskia Pariadhaven. She was awarded the match by technical superiority. Medal rush for Indian wrestlers! 

Kiran wins BRONZE in wrestling!

Rahul Aware wins gold! 

The Indian wrestler beats Steven Takahashi 15-7 to claim the gold medal in the men’s freestyle 57kg. What a clinical performance!

Wrestling: 

The men’s freestyle 57 kg gold-medal match between Rahul Aware and Steven Takahashi of Canada is underway! 

The 28-year-old Babita Phogat’s bid to retain the Commonwealth Games 53kg class women’s wrestling gold came unstuck after she held a 2-1 lead over her Canadian rival Diana Weicker. Babita sought to consolidate her lead by remaining aggressive in the second period. Her urge to bring the Ontario nurse down to the mat was counterproductive. Though both wrestlers were down, the judge intervened to ensure that the Canadian was awarded two points at that stage. The 28-year-old Canadian, superior on the day, swung the bout decisively her way in the final three-quarters of a minute. The two grapplers were fighting for a gold medal in the five-player league after having won three bouts each.

Wrestling:

Babita Kumari gave her everything but lost 2-5 to Canada’s Diana Weicker. The Canadian claimed four points in the second period and didn’t look back since then. 

Babita Phogat claims silver medal in women’s freestyle 53kg

Women’s Freestyle 53 kg Nordic

India’s Babita Kumari is in action against Diana Weicker of Canada. Expecting a close encounter!

Table tennis: Men’s singles

India’s Sathiyan Gnanasekaran enters the last eight of men’s singles event as his Nigerian opponent Segun Toriola retires after losing the first game

Former world champion Tejaswini Sawant wins silver

Former world champion Tejaswini Sawant delivered her best under pressure and returned to the Commonwealth Games podium with a silver medal in the 50m rifle prone with a score of 618.9. The Kolhapur-born 37-year-old had an excellent run but the best of her six scores came in the final series when she shot 104.6 to edge Seonaid McIntosh (Scotland) to bronze medal position by a margin of just 0.8 points. Tejaswini Sawant, who won the world championship 50m rifle prone in 2010 in Munich. If her success, coming a dozen years after she won two gold medals in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, was cause for celebration, it was disappointing that 24-year-old Anjum Moudgil finished 16th with a score of 602.2. Staring with three sub-100 series, she picked herself up a bit but even a final series of 103.5 was not enough to lift her any higher. Having won the 50m rifle 3 positions silver in the ISSF World Cup in Guadalajara, Mexico, last month – she shot 399/400 in prone in qualifications there – Anjum Moudgil seemed ill at ease today.

Sharath Kamal through to quarter-finals

A routine win for Sharath Kamal as he beats Australia’s Heming Hu 11-8, 12-10, 8-11, 11-6, 11-5 to reach the quarter-finals of the men’s singles event. He will face England’s Liam Pitchford in the last-eight.

TEJASWINI SAWANT WINS SILVER IN 50M RIFLE PRONE!

Tejaswini Sawant shoots 618.9 to win silver behind Games record-breaker, Singapore’s Martina Lindsay Veloso! Anjum Moudgil finishes in 16th place with a score of 602.2.

Tejaswini Sawant second after four series but Anjum Moudgil faces elimination

After four series, Tejaswini Sawant is in the second position behind Singapore’s Martina Lindsay Veloso after shooting 102.1, 102.4, 103.3 and 102.8. However, after shooting 98.3, 98.9, 97.9 and 92.1 Anjum Moudgil finds herself in 18th place and certainly out of medal contention.

Mouma Das and Harmeet Desai move to quarter-finals in contrasting fashion

Mouma Das battled past England’s Tin Tin Ho in a marathon seven-game match to advance to the quarter-finals. Mouma, who won 11-7, 7-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-13, 11-7, 11-8, will face Singapore’s Mengyu Yu in the last-eight. In contrast, Harmeet beat Malaysia’s Chee Feng Leong 11-5, 11-7, 11-5, 7-11, 11-4 to reach the quarter-finals where he will either face Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna or Singapore’s Xue Jie Pang.

Kidambi Srikanth through to quarter-finals

Kidambi Srikanth canters to a straight-games victory over Sri Lanka’s Niluka Karunaratne in the round of 16 to book his spot in the quarter-final. The newly-crowned World No 1 won 21-10, 21-10 and will either face another Sri Lankan in Buwaneka Goonethilleka or Singapore’s Zin Rei Ryan Ng.

PV Sindhu through to quarter-finals

Sindhu recovers from a difficult start to win her round of 16 clash against Australia’s Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen 21-15, 21-9. Sindhu will face Canada’s Brittney Tam in the quarter-final.

Kidambi Srikanth wins first game

Srikanth takes the opening game 21-10! The Guntur lad has covered the net with ease. Notably, his forehand strokes have unsettled the Sri Lankan, who is looking to prolong rallies.

PV Sindhu wins the opening game

After leading 11-9 at the break, Sindhu races to a 15-9 lead before Wendy Chen mounts a comeback. However, it is too late as Sindhu wins the first game 21-15.

Kidambi Srikanth in control in opening game

Srikanth is making full use of the drift inside the arena. He knows a thing or two about playing on slow courts. It becomes easy for an attacking player like Srikanth to control the pace of the game. He leads 18-9 in the opening game.

Anjum Moudgil and Tejaswini Sawant in action in 50m rifle prone finals

Right then! Time for the only shooting medal event of the day as Anjum Moudgil and Tejaswini Sawant take part in the 50m rifle prone finals. Can the duo add to India’s 11 shooting medals?

Srikanth leads at the break

It’s 11-3 at the break in Srikanth’s favour.The recently-installed World No 1 has successfully pushed his opponent towards the backcourt to find angles for half smashes. The 25-year-old’s attack is out of this world!

Arpinder Singh and AV Rakesh Babu qualify for triple jump final

Arpinder Singh and AV Rakesh Babu will both figure in the triple jump final on Friday being among 11 men given berths despite not achieving the qualification mark of 16.60m. On a day when Yordanys Duranona Garcia of Dominica was the only triple jumper who gained automatic qualification with a jump of 16.75m, Arpinder Singh’s 16.39m was the second best. Rakesh Babu will be one of the two finalists who made the grade despite not breaching the 16m mark. A number of jumpers with season-best efforts better than the 16.61m that Arpinder managed in the Federation Cup in Patiala on March 8 finished with shorter jumps than him. He will have to be at his very best in the final to be in medal reckoning.

PV Sindhu leads in a tight match

Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen is proving to be a tough nut to crack for Sindhu. The Australian is taking the game to Sindhu but Sindhu takes a narrow 11-9 lead at the mid-game break in the first game.

HS Prannoy beats Anthony Joe to reach the quarter-final

A routine win for HS Prannoy. Anthony started strongly and even threatened to take the first game but Prannoy showed his class against the young Aussie to win the match 21-18, 21-11.

Kidambi Srikanth and PV Sindhu are up next for India. Srikanth takes on Sri Lanka’s Niluka Karunaratne while SIndhu is up against Australia’s Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen.

Paddler Mouma Das in action 

Mouma Das is the final Indian female singles player in action in the round of 16 as she takes on England’s Tin Tin Ho. After two games, both players have won a game each with an identical scoreline of 11-7.

Manika Batra through to quarter-finals as Madhurika Patkar loses

Manika Batra eases through to the quarter-finals as she beats Australia’s Tracy Feng 11-6, 11-6, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7. However, Madhurika Patkar’s campaign came to an end as she lost 9-11, 8-11, 11-2, 3-11, 8-11, 11-6 to England’s Kelly Sibley.

HS Prannoy claims first game

Prannoy wins the first game 21-18 against Australia’s Anthony Joe.

Squash mixed doubles players victorious

Dipika Pallikal and Saurav Ghosal come back from a game down to beat the Malaysian pair of Aifa Azman and Sanjay Singh Chal in a bitterly-fought contest. Dipika and Aifa had some heated moments and Dipika was even given a warning for un-sportsman like conduct. Dipika and Saurav won 7-11, 11-6, 11-8. In the other mixed doubles clash, Joshna Chinappa and Harinder Pal Sandhu beat New Zealand’s Amanda Landers-Murphy and Zac Millar 11-7, 10-11, 11-5.

HS Prannoy vs Anthony Joe

Anthony is matching Prannoy shot to shot but Prannoy has been mixing his game well and is making the Australian run around with his delicate drop shots and powerful smashes.

Heptathlete Purnima Hembram seventh after high jump 

Purnima Hembram went close to improving on her high jump personal best of 1.74m but failed in three attempts at 1.75m. The determined Odia heptathlete cleared 1.72m on her third attempt to add 879 points to the 1041 she picked up from 100m hurdles for her personal best time of 13.56 seconds. The 23-year-old now has a tally of 1920 points after two events and was in seventh place overall, 191 points behind Katarina Johnson-Thompson (England) whose 1.87m in high jump gave her the lead.

HS Prannoy vs Anthony Joe

147-ranked Anthony starts strongly in the first game and Prannoy looks a bit rusty. Prannoy takes the lead but Anthony, backed by his home crowd, is fighting back hard against his higher-ranked opponent.

HS Prannoy in action in singles round of 16 match

After getting the better of Mauritius’ Christopher Jean Paul in his first-round tie, HS Prannoy takes on Australia’s Anthony Joe in the round of 16.

Ruthvika Shivani Gadde through to quarter-finals after hard-fought victory

21-year-old Shivani Gadde progresses to the singles quarter-finals after a 45-minute encounter with Singapore’s Jia Min Yeo. Shivani won 21-10, 21-23, 21-10 and now awaits the winner of the round of 16 clash between Chloe Birch and Kirsty Gilmour in the quarter-final.

Indian grapplers get off to good start

Indian grapplers place themselves in line to win four medals on the opening day of wrestling competitions at the Commonwealth Games. The legendary Sushil Kumar (74kg class) led the way. Babita Kumari Phogat (women’s 53kg class) and Rahul Aware (57kg class) can all win gold medals later in the day while Kiran (women’s 76kg) will vie for bronze. The medal bouts will all be fought from 12.30 pm IST.

Manika Batra and Madhurika Patkar in action in women’s singles round of 16

After qualifying for the mixed doubles quarter-finals, Manika Batra and Madhurika Patkar are in action in the women’s singles round of 16 matches. Manika is up against Australia’s Tracy Feng while Madhurika faces England’s Kelly Sibley.

Squash mixed doubles pairs in action in pre-quarters

Dipika Pallikal and Saurav Ghosal take on the Malaysian pair of  Aifa Azman and Sanjay Singh Chal while Joshna Chinappa and Harinder Pal Sandhu are up against New Zealand’s Amanda Landers-Murphy and Zac Millar.

Mixed doubles paddlers through to quarter-finals

India make it three out of three in the table tennis mixed doubles event as Sanil Shetty-Madhurika Patkar and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran-Manika Batra joined Sharath Kamal-Mouma Das in the quarter-finals in contrasting fashion.  Sanil and Madhurika coasted to an 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 win while Sathiyan and Manika won a hard-fought round of 16 match 11-8, 11-13, 10-12, 11-8,11-4.

Pranaav-Sikki through to mixed doubles quarter-finals

Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy join the pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappain in the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles event. The duo battled past Singapore’s Danny Bawa Chrisnanta and Jia Ying Crystal Wong 21-19, 21-13 and will face Malaysia’s Peng Soon Chan and Liu Ying Goh.

Sushil Kumar wins to progress to finals!

Sushil Kumar assures India of its second medal from wrestling after wrapping up a quick win by fall against Connor Evans! Sushil will face South Africa’s Johannes Botha in the men’s 74kg wrestling final.

Rahul Aware is through to the final!

India have been assured of a medal off the wrestling mat as Rahul Aware progresses to the final after a combative 12-8 victory over Pakistan’s Muhammad Bilal! Aware will next face Canada’s Steven Takahashi in the final!

Kiran bows out in the semi-final

Kiran loses 10-0 in the women’s 76kg semi-final bout to Nigeria’s Blessing Onyebuchi. Kiran is still in contention to win a bronze through the repechage, which will take place later in the day.

Sushil Kumar through to semi-finals!

Sushil Kumar is on fire! The Indian legend follows up his 11-0 win in the round of 16 with another 11-0 win in the quarter-finals. This time it is Pakistan’s Muhammad Asad Butt who finds himself on the losing side against Sushil. Sushil will next face Australia’s Connor Evans in the semi-finals.

Pranaav Chopra-Sikki Reddy in action

After Satwik-Ashwini, it is India’s second mixed doubles pair of Pranaav and Sikki to take to the court. The youngsters are up against Singapore’s Danny Bawa Chrisnanta and Jia Ying Crystal Wong.

Sharath Kamal-Mouma Das through to quarter-finals

Sharath-Mouma notch a straight-games victory over David McBeath and Kelly Sibley to progress to the quarter-finals of the table tennis mixed doubles event.

Satwik-Ashwini through to quarter-finals

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa are through to the mixed doubles quarter-finals with a thumping win over Canada’s Kristen Tsai and Nyl Yakura. Satwik-Ashwini win 21-10, 21-7.

Babita Phogat, Rahul Aware and Kiran notch easy wins

That was lightning quick from Babita! She needs less than two minutes to get the better of her Sri Lankan opponent Deepika Dilhani as she gets Dilhani on the mat to win by fall. She has now won both her Nordic style matches. Meanwhile, in the men’s 57kg freestyle wrestling, veteran grappler Rahul Aware beat George Ramm 11-0 while Kiran moves on to the semi-finals of the women’s 76kg freestyle event with an 11-1 win!

Neeraj Kumar and Anish Bhanwala start 25m pistol qualifiers strongly

Neeraj Kumar and world junior champion Anish Bhanwala were placed first and third respectively after the first stage of shooting in the 25m rapid fire pistol competition with scores of 291 and 286 points respectively. Neeraj Kumar, the 23-year-old army man from Punjab, who shot in the first relay set the bar with scores of 97, 100 and 94 in the three series (eight seconds, six seconds and four seconds). The 15-year-old Anish Bhanwala had scores of 98 each on the first two series but faltered with a 90 in the four-second series to cede a one-point lead in his relay to Sam Gowin of England. With 11 10s, the teenager will draw positives from the fact that no other shooter managed as many 10s as he did.

Sharath Kamal-Mouma Das in action in round of 16 clash

The action is coming thick and fast now as India’s table tennis mixed doubles pair of Sharath Kamal and Mouma Das take to the court in their round of 16 clash. The Indian duo, who are playing England’s David McBeath and Kelly Sibley, have won the first game 11-5

Wrestler Rahul Aware in action in men’s 57kg bout

Rahul Aware is up against England’s George Ramm in the men’s 57kg round of 16 bout as he looks to continue India’s winning start in the wrestling events.

Sushil Kumar gets an easy win in his first bout

Well that was quick. In his first bout at the Games, Sushil Kumar thrashes his opponent 11-0 to move through to the quarter-finals! The Glasgow Games gold medallist also wins four classification points and will face Pakistan’s Muhammad Asad Butt in the quarters.

Satwiksairaj-Ashwini in action in mixed doubles

India’s mixed doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa take on Canada’s Kristen Tsai and Nyl Yakura in the round of 16 clash.

Sushil Kumar in action in men’s freestyle 74 kg round of 16 bout

Double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar takes to the mat in the men’s freestyle 74 kg round of 16 bout. He’s up against Canada’s 23-year-old Jevon Balfour.

Heptathlete Purnima Hembram off to a good start

Purnima Hembram clocked her personal best time of 13.56 seconds to pick up 1041 points and be sixth among 13 competitors to give herself a good start in the gruelling two-day, seven event heptathlon competition.  Her previous best of 13.72 seconds had come in Guntur in July last year. The 23-year-old Odia had clocked 13.92 seconds in the Federation Cup last month where she produced her best heptathlon performance with 5815 points. England’s Katie Stainton was gutted after the referee disqualified her for knocking down hurdles. There is a 55-point gap between Purnima Hembram and the leader, Celeste Mucci (Australia) after the first event.

Neeraj Kumar and Anish Bhanwala on course to qualify for finals

At the end of the first stage in the men’s 25m pistol qualifiers, Neeraj Kumar tops the standings with a score of 291 while Anish is in third place, one point behind England’s Sam Govin who has 287 points.

Babita Phogat wins her first bout

Babita comes back from a point down to beat Nigeria’s Bose Samuel 2-1 in her opening 53kg Nordic style bout 2-1. Not a vintage performance from the veteran but that victory has given her three classification points.

Babita Phogat trails after first round

Bose Samuel wins a technical point after Babita fails to win a point within her stipulated time. The 19-year-old Nigerian is smart enough to fend off Babita’s attack in the later stages as she attacked in search of points

Babita Phogat takes to the mat in 53kg Nordic wrestling

Gold-medal favourite Babita Phogat takes on Nigeria’s Bose Samuel in the women’s 53kg Nordic style event.

Triple jumpers Arpinder Singh and AV Rakesh Babu in action

It is time for the triple jump heats! In action are India’s AV Rakesh Babu and Glasgow bronze-medal winner Arpinder Singh. The qualification mark is set at 16.60m or the 12 best jumpers which Arpinder is expected to clear. Rakesh, on the other hand, will need to better his personal best of 16.59m he set at the Federation Cup in Patiala earlier this year.

Purnima Hembram sixth in the heptathlon after 100m hurdles

After the 100m hurdles heats, Purnima finds herself in sixth place with a score of 1041 points. It’s an excellent start from the Indian who will next be in action in the high jump event.

Heptathlete Purnima Hembram second in 100m hurdles heat

Purnima Hembram runs a personal best time of 13.56 to finish second in the women’s heptathlon 100m Hurdles and gains 1041 points. Hembram was a close second to Ghana’s Elizabeth Dadzie with Australia’s Alysha Burnett.

Sutirtha Mukherjee-Pooja Sahasrabudhe through to quarter-finals

Suthirtha Mukherjee-Pooja Sahasrabudhe join Manika Batre-Mouma Das in the quarter-finals with an 11-7, 11-5, 8-11, 11-6 victory over Wales’ Charlotte Carey-Chloe Thomas. In the quarter-finals, they Pooja and Sutirtha will face Canada’s Alicia Cote and Mo Zhang.

Manika Batra-Mouma Das progress to quarter-final

Manika and Mouma progress to the women’s table tennis doubles quarter-final with minimum fuss as they beat the Sri Lankan pair of Hansani Kapugeekiyana and Ishara Madurangi 11-4, 11-4, 11-1. The duo will face England’s Tin-Tin Ho and Maria Tsatsinos in the quarter-finals.

Batra-Das and Mukherjee-Sahasrabudhe win second game

The Indians are cruising at the moment! Pooja and Sutirtha take their second game 11-5 while Manika and Mouma win their second game 11-4.

Batra-Das and Mukherjee-Sahasrabudhe win first game

Both the doubles teams have gone off to a good start in their pre-quarter matches. Manika and Mouma have had it easier than their compatriots as they clinch the first game 11-4 against the Sri Lankan pair of Kapugeekiyana-Madurangi. Sutirtha Mukherjee-Pooja Sahasrabudhe also won their first game 11-7 against their Welsh opponents.

Women paddlers in action 

The doubles pairs of Manika Batra-Mouma Das and Sutirtha Mukherjee-Pooja Sahasrabudhe will be in action in the round of 16. Batra and Das are up against the Sri Lankan pair of Hansani Kapugeekiyana and Ishara Madurangi while Sutirth and Pooja will face Wales’ Charlotte Carey and Chloe Thomas.

Neeraj Kumar leads qualification standings 

Brilliant shooting from Neeraj Kumar who is shooting in the first relay! A 97, 100 and a 94 gives him an overall score of 291! Anish Bhanwala will be shooting in the second relay.

Anish Bhanwala and Neeraj Kumar in 25m pistol qualifiers

The first bit of action for India comes from the Belmont Shooting Centre as 15-year-old Anish Bhanwala and Neeraj Kumar take part in the men’s 25m pistol qualifiers. Anish, who had to skip a couple of his 10th grade CBSE exams to take part in Glasgow, has been in brilliant form. The Karnal-based shooter won gold at the 2018 ISSF Junior World Cup and had also clinched silver at the Commonwealth Championships last year and is expected to add to India’s medal tally along with Neeraj Kumar.

Day 8 schedule

Day 8 will see the start of the wrestling events with Sushil Kumar and Babita Phogat in action in the men’s 74kg freestyle and the women’s 53kg Nordic event. Click here to check out the full schedule for Day 8 .

Day 7 wrap

India had reasons to be happy that the Commonwealth Games 2018 schedule in Gold Coast did not take a leaf out of Olympic sport bosses’ idea of removing 50m pistol and double trap events from the Tokyo Games in 2020. Each of India’s three medals on Wednesday came from these very events, with Shreyasi Singh winning a memorable gold in women’s double trap shoot off. With 24 medals already in the bag and with nine more assured from the boxing ring and with wrestlers yet to enter the fray, the Indian contingent will be aware that it has some work to do if it is to match the 64-medal effort at Glasgow 2014, writes G Rajaraman in his Day 5 wrap .

Hello and welcome to Firstpost’s live blog of the 2018 Commonwealth Games. The Indian wrestling contingent led by Sushil Kumar and Babita Phogat will take to the mat for the first time at Gold Coast. Action will also continue in badminton, table tennis and the shooting range as India look to increase their medal tally. 

So do stick around as we bring live updates from Day 8 of the Commonwealth Games.