Needle pricks India again

Their gold medal tally surpassed the previous edition with 15-year-old shooter Anish Bhanwala becoming the youngest contributor to it but India had loads to be embarrassed about on a day when two track and field athletes were ordered out of the Commonwealth Games for breaching the event’s ‘No Needle policy’ here.

There was ecstasy and agony in equal measure for the Indian contingent.

The country enjoyed its best day so far in the Games, picking up three gold, three silver and four bronze medals but it also turned out to be the most embarrassing as race walker K T Irfan and triple jumper V Rakesh Babu were sent home in ignominy.

India’s medal tally rose to 42, including 17 gold, 11 silver and 14 bronze. India had won 15 gold medals in the 2014 Glasgow Games.

But one incident that overshadowed all the good was how fumbling Indian officials dealt with the latest embarrassment even though there was no doping violation involved.

As if the humiliation of having athletes sent home was not enough, the manner in which the administrative staff of the Indian contingent gave contradictory statements only added to the mess. It was a quintessential goof-up story as far as the administrators were concerned but baffling was Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore’s silence on the matter despite touching down in the city on Friday.