India is barely in the top 10 in the medal tally of this year’s Commonwealth Games. At least three more medals have been confirmed but to improve the situation it is necessary to convert them into gold. Till now, India has been able to win only 2 gold medals and this time it is currently at 9th position. India, which won 22 gold medals in 2022, was at fourth position. Even though she still has hopes of winning many golds, the pace is going very slow. Meanwhile, India has created history by winning a medal for the first time in the 10 thousand meters event. On Tuesday, India won two medals and confirmed three medals.
On the sixth day of the Commonwealth Games, Harjinder Kaur won the silver medal in the women’s 69 kg weight lifting category while Gulveer Singh finished second in the 10,000 meters, helping India win two medals. The boxers also continued their brilliant performance and secured three more medals on Tuesday. India’s four medals in boxing are now assured as experienced Lovlina Borgohain will start her campaign from the semi-finals, due to which her medal is already assured. Asian Games bronze medalist boxer Preeti Pawar (54 kg), current Asian champion Priya Ghanghas (60 kg) and Jadumani Singh (55 kg) ensured medals for India by reaching the semi-finals of their respective weight categories.
Till now, after winning a total of 12 medals including 2 gold, 7 silver and 3 bronze medals, it is at ninth position in the table. 29-year-old Harjinder, who won three bronze medals in the 71kg category at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022, produced one of the best performances of her career to clinch India’s seventh medal in weight lifting in the ongoing Games. Harjinder achieved personal bests in all three categories (snatch, clean and jerk and total weight) which reflected his progress over the last four years.
Five feet three inches tall Harjinder, resident of Nabha, Punjab, twice improved the Commonwealth Games record in snatch. He first created a new record by lifting 99 kg weight and then broke his own record by lifting 101 kg weight in the last attempt. After this, he continued his record performance in clean and jerk also. He successfully lifted first 123 kg and then 126 kg, taking his total weight to 227 kg. However, despite her stellar performance, Canada’s Charlotte Simoneau put in an exceptional performance to win the gold medal. Simoneau set Commonwealth Games records in all three categories (snatch, clean and jerk and total weight). He created a new Commonwealth Games record of 240 kg by lifting 108 kg in snatch and 132 kg in clean and jerk. She was 13 kg ahead of Harjinder.
Gulveer became the first Indian male athlete to win a medal in the men’s 10,000 meters event in the history of the Commonwealth Games. Gulveer showed tremendous speed in the last lap and clocked 27 minutes 49.78 seconds and finished second and won the silver medal for India. Australia’s Kai Robinson won the gold medal with a timing of 27 minutes 48.93 seconds. India suffered a disappointment in the women’s high jump when Asian champion Pooja Singh failed to clear a height of 1.82 meters and was eliminated from the competition. This was 19-year-old Pooja’s debut at the Commonwealth Games. The competition was also interrupted for some time due to heavy rain. Even after the games resumed, Pooja could not cross the height of 1.82 meters in her third and final attempt, ending her campaign.
In boxing, 22-year-old Preeti Pawar, who entered the women’s 54 kg category, defeated Nicole Clyde of Northern Ireland in a one-sided match by a unanimous decision of 5-0 and entered the last four and secured at least a bronze medal. In the women’s 60kg category, current Asian champion Priya Ghanghas, 20, defeated local contender Niamh Mitchell of Scotland by a 4-1 split decision. In the men’s 55 kg category, Jadumani Singh also performed brilliantly and secured India’s third medal of the day. Jadumani defeated Mwengo Mwale of Zambia by 5-0 unanimous decision in the quarterfinals to reach the last four.
Former Asian champion and World Championships bronze medalist Parveen Hooda lost in the quarterfinals of the women’s 65kg category while Kapil Pokharia’s Commonwealth Games campaign ended in the quarterfinals. He suffered a unanimous decision defeat in the men’s 90 kg category against Robert McNulty in a one-sided contest. National record-holding Indian sprinter Vishal TK kept the country’s medal hopes alive by entering the semi-finals of the men’s 400m race. Another Indian in this event, Rajesh Ramesh, missed out on making it to the next round. 22-year-old Vishal from Tamil Nadu had created a national record in May this year by clocking 44.98 seconds and becoming the first Indian to break the 45-second barrier. He finished second in the sixth heat of the first round with a timing of 46.49 seconds.
Rajesh Ramesh finished third in the third heat with a timing of 47.43 seconds and was eliminated. Taking the results of all the heats together, Vishal’s time of 46.49 seconds was the 14th fastest among the 16 runners who reached the semi-finals. The semi-final matches of men’s 400 meters will be held on July 30.
India men’s lawn bowls pair defeated Cook Islands in a thrilling tiebreaker in the second match of the first round of Section B men’s pairs category. Indian pair lead Navneet Singh and skip Dinesh Kumar had a slow start and lost the first set 2-5 despite taking an early lead. The Indian players made a brilliant comeback in the second set against the Cook Islands pair of Poila Ape and Jason Lindsay. In a tough match, Navneet and Dinesh maintained a slight lead most of the time and showed composure in the moments of pressure and won the second set 6-5, taking the match to the tiebreaker. In the decisive tiebreaker, the Indian pair maintained their composure and won the match by winning 1-0.
Indian swimmer Srihari Nataraj failed to make the final of the men’s 100m backstroke event. Nataraj finished sixth in heat number two of the semi-finals with a timing of 55.52 seconds. She finished 12th overall among the 16 swimmers competing in the semi-finals, while the top eight swimmers made it to the finals. South Africa’s Peter Coetzee topped the semi-finals with a time of 52.20 seconds. In para swimming, Budigina and Imam failed to win a medal in the final of the men’s 50m freestyle S13 event, finishing sixth and eighth respectively. Budigina, who made it to the finals by finishing sixth, also achieved sixth place in the medal race with a timing of 25.68 seconds.
Imam also repeated his qualifying result and finished eighth with a timing of 28.28 seconds. Indian para swimmers Ravi Veera Venkat Bhawan Budigina and Ali Imam failed to win a medal by finishing sixth and eighth respectively in the final of the men’s 50m freestyle S13 event of the Commonwealth Games here on Tuesday. Budigina, who made it to the final by finishing sixth, also finished sixth in the medal race with a timing of 25.68 seconds. Imam also repeated his qualifying result and finished eighth with a timing of 28.28 seconds. Meanwhile, Sajan Prakash could not qualify for the semi-finals of the men’s 50m butterfly event after finishing eighth in his heat and 28th overall. Sajan, 32, was part of the ninth and final group of qualifying. He clocked 24.94 seconds and was thus eliminated from the competition.
