By Prarthana Mitra
As the ninth day of Gold Coast Commonwealth Games drew to a close, India had managed to bag three gold medals, besides registering a series of second and third place finishes. Among the stars of the day were shooters Anish Bhanwala and Tejaswini Sawant and wrestler Bajrang Punia.
Tejaswini Sawant finished women’s 50m Rifle event, opening India’s gold medal account for the day and setting a CWG record score of 457.9 points. She will lift the tricolour together with compatriot Anjum Moudgil who finished second in the same event.
Two medals in two days! Congratulations Tejaswini Sawant for the Gold in the women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions event. We are even happier because she set a CWG record in the finals: PM @narendramodi #GC2018 pic.twitter.com/btYqDu1pOD
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) April 13, 2018
15-year-old Anish Bhanwala won gold in men’s 21m rapid fire pistols event, becoming the youngest CWG medallist in history, after demolishing a CWG record.
In an exceptional and near-perfect effort, Bajrang Punia brought home yet another gold for India in men’s freestyle 65kg wrestling.
All that glitters is silver and bronze
In the table tennis women’s doubles, Indian paddlers Manika Batra and Mouma Das brought home a silver, after losing to Singapore in the finals.
Puja Dhanda won silver and Divya Kakran a bronze in 57kg and 68kg freestyle wrestling respectively.
Boxer Naman Tanwar won bronze in men’s 91 kg category, after facing defeat in the ring against Australia’s Jason Whateley. Mohammed Hussamuddin and Manoj Kumar also suffered losses but still managed to secure Bronze medals for the country.
Through to the semis and finals
Satish Kumar advanced to the finals in the men’s 91 kg boxing event, after his opponent threw the towel in the second round on Friday.
With a throw of 80.4 metres on Friday, Neeraj Chopra also managed to sail to the Javelin finals.
Kidambi Srikanth who rose to World No.1 in the world Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings on Thursday, proceeded to the semi-final at the Gold Coast village, after beating Zin Rei Ryan NG of Singapore. Shuttler HS Prannoy also expects a podium finish as he gracefully enters the semis, to face Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia.
However, the men’s hockey team didn’t perform as expected and lost to New Zealand 2-3 in the semi-final. The team will now compete for third place against either Australia or England.
At the end of Day 9, India retained its third position in the standings, behind Australia and England. With a total of has 42 medals— 17 gold, 11 silver and 14 bronze—the contingent moves into a more competitive leg of the Games.
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