2018 Commonwealth Games, Day 9, Highlights: Wrestler Bajrang Punia, Shooters Anish Bhanwala, Tejaswini Sawant Bag Golds
CWG 2018, Day 9, Highlights: Anish Bhanwala, aged 15, created history by becoming the country's youngest ever gold medal winner in the Commonwealth Games.
India continued their impressive form on the ninth day of the 21st Commonwealth Games on Friday. At the end of Day 9, India remained at the 3rd spot with 17 gold, 11 silver and 14 bronze medals. Indian paddlers Manika Batra and Mouma Das clinched the silver medal in women's doubles category. Wrestler Bajrang Punia added another gold medal to the India tally at the Games at Gold when he overcame Kane Charig of Wales by Technical Superiority in the men's 65kg category. World No.1 Kidambi Srikanth stormed into the badminton men's singles semi-finals thrashing Singapore's Zin Rei Ryan in straight games. Srikanth, who rose to the No.1 spot in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings on Thursday, hardly lost any sweat in thrashing the Singaporean 21-15, 21-12 at the Carrara Sports Arena.Â
However, India's men's hockey team didn't perform as expected and lost to New Zealand 2-3 in a semi-final. India put up a disastrous defensive performance in the first quarter to concede two goals to Hugo Inglis (seventh minute), Stephen Jenness (13th). But Harmanpreet Singh converted a penalty stroke in the 29th minute as India trailed 1-2 at half-time. Markus Child regained New Zealand's two-goal lead in the 40th minute. India kept chasing and reduced the deficit to one in the 57th minute through a penalty corner conversion but it proved to be too late to find an equaliser. India will now head to the bronze medal playoff against the loser between Australia and England. (Medals Tally)
Indian shooter Anish Bhanwala, aged 15, created history by becoming the country's youngest ever gold medal winner in the Commonwealth Games. Anish achieved the feat when he stormed his way into the gold medal with a Games record in the men's 25m rapid fire pistol event at the Belmont Shooting Centre. The Haryana boy shot down the CWG record in the final with a score of 30 including four series of 5 each. The youngest in the field, he showed nerves of steel and led the more experienced shooters through the event to emerge deserving champion. Australia's Sergei Evglevski claimed the silver with 28, while the bronze medal went to Sam Gowin (17) of England. India's other entrant in the event, Neeraj Kumar (13) was the second shooter to be eliminated in the finals after a shoot-off. By winning the gold, Anish bettered team-mate Manu Bhaker, who had become the youngest Indian Commonwealth Games gold medallist earlier this week when she emerged champion in the 10m air rifle finals. In the Qualifications, Anish scored 580 to finish top of the tally while Neeraj was second best with 579. Anish scored 286 in stage 1 and 294 in stage 2 qualifying, while Neeraj had 291 in stage 1 and 288 in stage 2.
Shooters Tejaswini Sawant and Anjum Moudgil won gold and silver respectively in the Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions at the 21st Commonwealth Games. Tejaswini registered a new Games record 457.9 points to take the title. Anjum scored 455.7. Seonaid McIntosh of Scotland took bronze with 444.6. Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia entered the final of the men's 65 kilogram category at the 21st Commonwealth Games. The Indian came up with an awe inspiring performance to win all his bouts by technical superiority. Bouts are awarded on the basis of technical superiority when a wrestler takes a lead of 10 or more points. Bajrang overpowered Vincent De Marinis of Canada in the semi-finals. Bajrang started his campaign with a power-packed display against Brahm Richards of New Zealand. The Indian needed only a couple of minutes to beat Richands by technical superiority. Bajrang executed a couple of two-point moves to go 4-0 up within the first 30 seconds. He then pulled off a gut wrench to flip his opponent over which earned him another four points. Bajrang almost pulled off a pin but the Kiwi survived somehow with some desperate defending. But another tw-point move by the Indian finished off the contest. In the quarter-finals, Bajrang outclassed Amas Daniel of Nigeria, building up a 10-0 lead early in the second round. The domination contiuned in the semi-finals Bajrang pulled off a series of two-point moves to take an 8-0 lead in the first round. Another takedown just after the break earned him the win and a place in the final.
Highlights of 2018 Commonwealth Games, Day 9, straight from Gold Coast, Australia
17:35 IST: 17:35 IST: Thank you for joining us for the ninth day updates. We will be back with the tenth day live updates of the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2018 at Gold Coast on Australia.
17:33 IST:Â India's Satish Kumar advances to the men's 91+kg finals after beating Keddy Agnes of Seychelles.
17:20 IST: In Boxing, Men's +91kg Semifinal featuring India's Satish Kumar starts. He is up against Keddy Agnes of Seychelles
17:05 IST: In Badminton, India's Satwik Rankireddy/Ashwini Ponnappa advance to the Mixed Doubles semi-final after beating Goh Soon Huat/Lai Shevon Jemie of Malaysia 21-19, 21-19
16:50 IST: In Badminton, India's HS Prannoy beats Dinuka Karunaratna of Sri Lanka 21-12, 21-6 in the Men's Singles Quarterfinal
16:42 IST:Â In Badminton --Â India lead Malaysia 1-0 in Mixed Doubles Quarterfinal and India lead Sri Lanka 1-0 in Men's Singles Quarter-final.
16:38 IST:Â Indian men's hockey team loses 2-3 to New Zealand in semi-final, will now play for bronze medal.
16:32 IST: In Badminton --Â India's Satwik Rankireddy/Ashwini Ponnappa is up against Goh Soon Huat/Lai Shevon Jemie in the Mixed Doubles Quarterfinal, while HS Prannoy of India is up against Sri Lanka's Dinuka Karunaratna in Men's Singles Quarterfinal.
16:31 IST: In men's hockey semi-final --Â India score from a penalty corner to make it 2-3 against New Zealand with just under 4 minutes left.
16:28 IST: India's Vikas Krishnan beats Steven Donnelly of England with a unanimous decision of 5-0 in Men's 75 kg event, advances to the final.
16:15 IST: In boxing, Men's 75 kg semi-final featuring India's Vikas Krishnan starts. He is up against Steven Donnelly of England.
16:13 IST: At the end of the 3rd Quarter, New Zealand maintain a two-goal lead against India. New Zealand 3-1 India.
16:12 IST: India's Manoj Kumar takes home the bronze after losing to Pat McCormack of England in men's 69 kg semi-final.
16:06 IST: New Zealand are currently leading India 3-1 in the men's hockey semi-final.
16:02 IST: TABLE TENNIS: India's Manika Batra/Mouma Das take home the silver medal after losing 0-3 in women's doubles table tennis final
15:58 IST: TABLE TENNIS: India's Manika Batra/Mouma Das lose 2nd game 4-11 to Tianwei Feng/Mengyu Yu of Singapore in women's doubles table tennis gold medal match
15:51 IST: TABLE TENNIS: India's Manika Batra/Mouma Das lose opening game 5-11 to Tianwei Feng/Mengyu Yu of Singapore in women's doubles table tennis gold medal match
15:45 IST: BOXING: India's Hussamuddin Mohammed takes home the bronze medal after losing to England's Peter McGrail in men's 56kg semi-final
15:40 IST: HOCKEY: India pull one back from a penalty stroke just before the end of the second quarter. New Zealand lead 2-1 in men's hockey semi-final
15:33 IST: TABLE TENNIS: India's Sutirtha Mukherjee/Pooja Sahasrabudhe lose 1-3 to Ho Ying/Lyne Karen of Malaysia in women's doubles table tennis bronze medal match
15:25 IST: TABLE TENNIS: India's Sutirtha Mukherjee/Pooja Sahasrabudhe win the 3rd game 11-8 vs Ho Ying/Lyne Karen of Malaysia to stay alive in the women's doubles table tennis bronze medal match
15:24 IST: HOCKEY: The 2nd quarter starts with New Zealand holding a 2-0 lead over India in the men's hockey semi-final
15:20 IST: BADMINTON: India's PV Sindhu storms into women's singles semis after beating Brittney Tam of Canada 21-14, 21-17
15:18 IST: TABLE TENNIS: Ho Ying/Lyne Karen of Malaysia lead 2-0 against India's Sutirtha Mukherjee/Pooja Sahasrabudhe
15:16 IST: HOCKEY: New Zealand double their lead in the first quarter against India in the men's hockey semi-final
15:09 IST: HOCKEY: Hugo Inglis scores in the 7th minute to give New Zealand a 1-0 lead against India in the men's hockey semi-final
15:05 IST: BADMINTON: PV Sindu wins the first game 21-14 against Canada's Brittney Tam in the women's single quarterfinals
15:00 IST: HOCKEY: Men's Semi-Final match between India and New Zealand gets underway
14:50 IST: TABLE TENNIS: Women's Doubles Bronze Medal Match between India's Sutirtha Mukherjee/Pooja Sahasrabudhe and Malaysia's Ying Ho and Karen Lyne is underway
14:38 IST: TABLE TENNIS: Paddlers Harmeet Desai and Sanil Shankar Shetty lose 0-3 against England's Liam Pitchford and Paul Drinkhall in men's doubles table tennis semi-final, will play for bronze medal
14:33 IST: SQUASH: Dipika Pallikal/Saurav Ghosal beat Joelle King/Paul Coll 11-9, 8-11, 11-10 to advance to squash mixed doubles final
14:28 IST: WRESTLING: Silver for India after Mausam Khatri loses to Martin Erasmus of South Africa in final of Men's Freestyle 97kg
14:17 IST: TABLE TENNIS: Paddlers Harmeet Desai and Sanil Shankar Shetty lose their first game against England in men's doubles table tennis semi-final
14:02 IST: TABLE TENNIS: Paddlers Sharath Kamal and Gnanasekaran beat Singapore's Yew Pang and Shao Poh to reach men's doubles table tennis final
13:52 IST: WRESTLING: India's Divya Kakran wins bronze in women's freestyle 68kg. This is India's 37th medal at the Games
13:40 IST: BADMINTON: N Sikki Reddy and Prannav Chopra lose 21-17, 21-12 against Malaysia in the Mixed Doubles Quarterfinal.
13:40 IST: WRESTLING: Indian Pooja Dhanda takes home the silver medal after losing in women's freestyle 57kg final to Nigeria's Odunayo Adekuoroye
13:28 IST: BADMINTON: N Sikki Reddy and Prannav Chopra lose their first game against Malaysia. They need to win their second game to stay in the match.
13:20 IST: WRESTLING: India's Bajrang Punia wins gold in men's freestyle 65kg. This is India's 17th gold at the Games
Shaabaas Bajrang !
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) April 13, 2018
Congratulations for the Gold
without dropping a single point in the entire tournament @PuniaBajrang ! #CWG2018 pic.twitter.com/BOpmMQfC06
12:56 IST: WRESTLING: India's Divya Kakran to fight for bronze after losing to Nigeria's Blessing Oborududu in women's freestyle 68kg semis
12:48 IST: WRESTLING: India's Pooja Dhanda through to women's freestyle 57kg gold medal match after beating Cameroon's Joseph Essombe Tiako in the semis
12:45 IST: TABLE TENNIS: India's world No 46 Gnanasekaran lost 4-0 to Sam Walker in the quarter-finals.
12:44 IST: WRESTLING: At the end of the first period, Pooja Dhanda leads Joseph Essombe Tiako 9-2. Proving far too strong for the Cameroonian
12:35 IST: WRESTLING: Pooja Dhanda vs Joseph Essombe Tiako underway in the 57kg freestyle semis
11:55 IST: SHOOTING: India's Shreyasi Singh has been eliminated from the women’s trap finals in fifth position
11:43 IST: SHOOTING: After 20 shots, India's Shreyasi Singh currently in 5th place among 6 shooters in the women's trap finals
11:05 IST: BOXING: India's Naman Tanwar takes home bronze medal after losing to Australia's Jason Whateley in men's 91kg semis
10:02 IST: BOXING: India's Manish Kaushik beats Northern Ireland's James McGivern to qualify for men's 60kg final
09:59 IST: BADMINTON: Saina Nehwal stroms into Semis with 21-8, 21-13 win over Rachel Honderich. To take on Kirsty Gilmour in Semis tomorrow
09:55 IST: SHOOTING: India's Shreyasi Singh qualifies for Women's Trap Finals
09:45 IST: TABLE TENNIS: Achanta Sharath Kamal storms into Men's Singles Semis with 4-2 win over Liam Pitchford in QF. Semi-final is scheduled for tomorrow
09:40 IST: SHOOTING: 15-year-old Anish Bhanwala wins gold in men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol. This is India's 16th gold at the Games
Congratulations to Anish Bhanwala for being the youngest Indian to win a gold at the CWG. Proud of you! #GC2018 #CommonwealthGames2018
— Anil Kumble (@anilkumble1074) April 13, 2018
15 years of age and already shooting for the stars! Congratulations Anish Bhanwala for bagging India another gold medal! #GC2018 #CommonwealthGames2018
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) April 13, 2018
Unbelievable- #AnishBhanwala at just 15 years of age wins a Gold in 25 m rapid pistol. Congratulations Anish.
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) April 13, 2018
Also many congratulations to#TejaswiniSawant for the GOLD & #AnjumMoudgil for the SILVERin Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions event. #GC2018 pic.twitter.com/VcvTpOKjkD
09:30 IST: BOXING: India's Gautav Solanki beats M Vidanalange Ishan Bandara of Sri Lanka in to reach Men's 52kg Final
09:24 IST: SHOOTING: India's Neeraj Kumar finishes at 5th spot (eliminated in shoot-off) in Final of Men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol
09:19 IST: BADMINTON: India's Kidambi Srikanth through to semi-finals with a 21-15, 21-12 win over Singapore's Ryan Ng Zin in the men's singles quarterfinal match
09:14 IST: SHOOTING: India's Anish is leading in 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men's Finals, while Neeraj Kumar is in 5th place.
09:10 IST: BOXING: India's Amit Panghal storms into Final of Men's (46-49 kg) with win over Uganda Boxer. Final is scheduled for tomorrow
08:58 IST: BADMINTON: India's Kidambi Srikanth wins the first game 21-15 against Singapore's Ryan Ng Zin Rei to take a 1-0 lead in the men's singles quarterfinal match
08:34 IST: BADMINTON: India's Satwik Rankireddy/Chirag Chandrashekhar Shetty beat Malaysia's Peng Soon Chan/Soon Huat Goh 21-14, 15-21, 21-9 to reach badminton men's doubles semi-finals
08:23 IST: TABLE TENNIS: India's Pooja Sahasrabudhe and Sutirtha Mukherjee lose 0-3 against Tianwei Feng and Mengyu Yu of Singapore in Women's Doubles Semifinal 1
08:20 IST: WRESTLING: India's Divya Kakran is through to Semis of Women's Freestyle 68 kg after winning one bout and losing another. Semis are scheduled for later today.
08:15 IST: ATHLETICS: India qualify for Final of Men's 4 x 400m clocking 3:04.05 in their Heat. Final are scheduled for tomorrow
08:10 IST: TABLE TENNIS: Paddlers Mouma Das and Manika Batra reach the finals of the Women's Doubles event, assure another medal for India.
07:57 IST: SHOOTING: India's Tejaswini Sawant wins gold, Anjum Moudgil bags silver in women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions Finals
Tejaswini Sawant breaks CWG record with a total score of 457.9.
07:40 IST: SHOOTING: India's Tejaswini Sawant and Anjum Moudgil currently rank 1 and 2 in Women's 50m Rifle 3 Finals
07:35 IST: ATHLETICS: India's Jinson Johnson qualifies for the 1500m final with time of 3:47.04 in his Heat
07:30 IST: WRESTLING: India's Mausam Khatri through to men's freestyle 97kg final
07:01 IST: WRESTLING: Bajrang Punia through to men's freestyle 65 kg semi-finals with an emphatic win over Nigeria's Amas Daniel
07:00 IST: SQUASH: India's Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal defeat Samantha Cornett and Nikki Todd of Canada to advance to Women's Doubles semifinals
Earlier on Thursday, Day 8 started with a silver at the Belmont Shooting Centre in Brisbane where Sawant added a second silver to her CWG collection of medals in the women's 50m rifle prone event.
And then began the medal rush at the Carrara Sports and Leisure centre where the wrestlers snared two golds, a silver and a bronze.
Defending champion Sushil (74kg) barely spent any time on the mat, his final against South African Johannes Botha lasted just a minute and 20 seconds as he picked up easy victories to claim his third successive gold at the Games, a love affair that began in 2010 Delhi edition.
Joining him in the gold-grabbers list was Rahul Aware (57klg), the man who finally found his moment of glory after 10 years of struggle.
Ignored for big events, sometimes without a trial, Aware fought through a groin niggle in a pulsating final against Canada's Steven Takahashi.
However, another defending champion Babita phogat (53kg) settled for a silver, while debutant Kiran happily flaunted a hard-earned bronze. Kiran defeated Mauritian Katouskia Pariadhaven by fall in the repechage of the 76kg category for her first major medal at the international level.
In the evening, Seema Punia and Navjeet Kaur Dhillon notched up silver and bronze medals respectively in the women's discus throw event to end the day on a high for India.
There were good results coming through on the badminton court as well with stars such as Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu and K Srikanth remained on course for medals in the individual events after advancing to the quarterfinals with another set of comprehensive victories.
The paddlers and squash players too continued to move ahead without any major hiccups and the weekend should add considerably to India's medal kitty.
However, the day was not completely free of disappointment as the women's hockey team bowed out of final contention after losing 0-1 to hosts Australia in the semifinal. They will now be competing for the bronze medal against Olympic champions England.
England were stunned in a penalty shootout by New Zealand.