India shining at CWG
gold coast — From the boxing ring to the shooting range to the athletics arena, it was India shining on the penultimate day of the 21st Commonwealth Games where the country claimed its biggest singleday haul of the ongoing edition, ensnaring eight gold medals across five disciplines.
The boxers picked up three, the shooters added one, the wrestlers claimed a couple, while the paddlers and the track-and-field contingent picked up one each on a truly golden day for the country, which also yielded five silver and one bronze medal.
The country held on to the third position in the overall medal tally with 59 medals — 25 gold, 16 silver and 18 bronze medals.
It all started at the shooting rang- es in Brisbane, where Sanjeev Rajput shattered the Games’ qualifying record before finishing on top in the 50m rifle 3 position final.
Rajput had won a bronze (2006) and a silver (2014) in the earlier editions. —
The star badminton trio of Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth were the centre of attraction as the Indian contingent ended their campaign at the 21st Commonwealth Games (CWG) on a high on Sunday.
India bagged a total of six medals on the final day. India finished the Games with 26 golds, 20 silvers and 20 bronze medals. This year’s total of 66 medals is the third highest haul for India in the history of the CWG.
Saina’s aggression and intensity quite literally wilted Sindhu as she picked up the women’s singles Commonwealth Games gold medal with exhilarating triumph in the all-India final in Gold Coast on Sunday.
Saina, who led the head-to-head count 3-1 before Sunday’s match, won 21-18 23-21 in the high-pressure match that lasted an hour. The triumph marked a remarkable end to her CWG campaign this edition. She was the pillar of India’s gold-winning campaign in the team championship earlier, playing every one of the singles matches due to Sindhu’s injury.
In a match that started on equal footing, Saina managed to dominate, bringing a rarely seen aggression to the court. The brute force of Sindhu’s smashes was something that Saina found hard to deal with. On the other hand, Sindhu found it tough to adjust to the delicate placement of strokes of Saina, who took the pace off the shuttle by attacking the net.
The strategy worked quite well for the London Olympics bronze-medallist and she raced to an 9-4 lead. As the gap widened, Saina’s command on the baseline also improved. The two
I really term it as next to my Olympic medal and my world No.1 ranking. So I would keep it somewhere there. It’s a gift to my father and my mother, my country. Saina Nehwal contrasting styles of the two shuttlers made for an exhilarating contest.
“I really term it as next to my Olympic medal and my world No.1 ranking. So I would keep it somewhere there. It’s a gift to my father and my mother, my country. It’s a very emotional moment for me after the disappointing loss in Rio due to injury,” second seed Saina said after a straight-game but draining victory over top seed and compatriot P V Sindhu in the final in Gold Coast.
Saina played all the matches in the mixed team championship before competing in the individual event.
Asked how her legs were holding up after continuous competition, Saina quipped: “They are dead.”
“It was a neck to neck game for me, it was even tougher because I have been playing for the last 10-12 days. She is tall, she has longer legs and covers the court better than me, I have to run here and there,” Saina said of her rival and teammate.
“I lost five kgs in the last few months, that helps you move faster,” she added. It was a perfect end to what was an imperfect start when her accredited father did not gain access to the Games village. She threatened to pull out if he wasn’t accommodated, which he eventually was, but she drew criticism for her stand. Then there were the niggles, which got aggravated during the team competition.
Asked if playing against Sindhu in a big final like on Sunday was more of a mental battle than anything else, Saina kept it simple. “You just have to play your game, it’s a healthy rivalry, people enjoy it, no doubt we are under tremendous pressure. But I am happy to be pulling these off. It’s not easy to play against someone who is ranked No.3 in the world now,” she said.
“It’s a challenging match for me. I would like to thank Gopi sir for pushing me in the last three four months and Christopher, my physio, who is working hard on my body. I was facing a lot of injuries on my shin, ankle and he came up and gave me a very good rehab programme which is helping my leg strength,” she said. — PTI