Women paddlers beat SA in opener
The Indian women table tennis team, led by Manika Batra, started its title defence in emphatic fashion, outclassing South Africa 3-0 in its opening Group 2 tie here on Friday. First on court was the women’s doubles duo of Sreeja Akula and Reeth Tennison, who combined well to beat the South African pair of Lailaa Edwards and Danisha Patel 11-7 11-7 11-5 to hand India the lead.
Then reigning Commonwealth Games champion Batra, who became the first Indian table tennis player to win a gold in the women’s singles in the last edition, lived upto her billing and thrashed Musfique Kalam 11-5 11-3 11-2 in the first singles match. Akula then came back and scored a dominating 11-5 11-3 11-6 win over Patel in the second singles to seal the tie for India. The Indian women will take on
Fiji in their second group tie later in the day.
Shiva Thapa win
Ace Indian boxer Shiva Thapa began his Commonwealth Games campaign on a rousing note by defeating Pakistan’s Suleman Baloch in the first round of the 63.5kg category, here on Friday. The 28-year-old Thapa hardly broke a sweat as he registered a comprehensive 5-0 win over Baloch to move to the pre-quarterfinals of the light welter weight.
Thapa, five-time Asian Championship medallist, was technically far superior to Baloch and landed a flurry of sharp punches on his opponent.
The former world championship bronze medallist also defended well as he danced around the ring with ease. At one point, Baloch lunged forward to punch the Indian but Thapa effortlessly moved out of the way as the Pakistan boxer
fell on the canvas.
Cricket makes debut
Shafali Verma and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s stroked-filled innings helped India put up 154 for eight against Australia as women’s cricket made a promising debut at the Commonwealth Games here on Friday. Shafali (48 off 33 balls) and Harmanpreet ( 52 off 34 balls) took India to a decent total which might not be enough against a champion side like Australia.
India opener Smriti Mandhana, facing pacer Darcie Brown on the first ball of the competition, marked the beginning of a pivotal point in women’s cricket with the game aiming to reach the Olympics via the CWG route.
The game did not involve hosts England but long queues were witnessed before the start of the game as enthusiastic fans trickled into the 25,000 capacity Edgbaston Stadium.
Games
A record 42 Para-sports events will be held at the
No of gold medals Australia won and topped the medals tally (198) in the previous edition of the Games in Gold Coast. England had 45 gold medals, ahead of India who won 26
The year Commonwealth Games began life as the British Empire Games
India’s best-ever show (38G, 27S, 36B) at home in New Delhi Games in 2010 where they were 2nd
BARBADOS: A65-strongBarbados team will take part in their first CWG since the Caribbean nation replaced the Queen as its head of state
in 2020