15-YR-OLD ANISH YOUNGEST INDIAN TO WIN CWG GOLD

Indian shooter Anish Bhanwala, aged 15, on Friday created history by becoming the country’s youngest ever gold medal winner in the Commonwealth Games. Wrestler Bajrang Punia and shooter Tejaswini Sawant also added a gold each making it the best day for India so far at the Games.

Gold Coast, April 13: Bajrang Punia (65kg) was the lone gold medallist but it was nonetheless an admirable haul of four medals by the Indian grapplers on the second day of the Commonwealth Games’ wrestling competition here on Friday.

Bajrang, the prodigy of the Olympic bronze medallist Yogeshwar Dutt, claimed all his four bouts on technical superiority to finish on top, the most dominating performance of the day by an Indian wrestler.

His final bout against Welshman Kane Charig lasted just over a minute.

Finishing with silver medals were Pooja Dhanda (57kg) and Mausam Khatri (97kg), while Divya Kakran (68kg) settled for a bronze medal.

TT GIRLS GET SILVER In table tennis, Manika Batra and Mouma Das fought hard before going down to defending champions Feng Tianwei and Yu Mengyu to settle for a silver medal in the women’s doubles.

Manika, who had led India to a historic triumph in team championship, could not do the same alongside Das on the day. Tianwei and Mengyu came well prepared to counter Batra’s variations and cruised to a 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 victory.

In the bronze medal playoff, the Malaysian combine of Ying Ho and Karen Lyne got the better of India’s Sutirtha Mukherjee and Pooja Sahasrabudhe 15-13, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7. SHOOTERS ON TARGET In Brisbane, shooter Anish Bhanwala, aged 15, became India’s youngest-ever gold medallist at the Commonwealth Games after Tejaswini Sawant added another yellow metal.

In a sensational CWG debut, Anish shot a Games record score of 30 to claim the top prize in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol event.

By winning the gold, Anish bettered teammate 16-year-old Manu Bhaker, who had become the youngest Indian CWG gold medallist earlier this week, in the 10m air rifle event.

The 37-year-old Tejaswini claimed gold by shattering the Games record in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions event. Compatriot Anjum Moudgil took silver.

Tejaswini held the lead from the first shot in the finals and broke the CWG record with 457.9.

SHUTTLERS CRUISE Meanwhile, top shuttlers P.V. Sindhu, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth progressing to the semifinals of their respective events.

Sindhu beat Canada’s Brittney Tam 21-14, 21-17 to set up a semifinal clash with defending champion Michelle Li of Canada.

Srikanth Kidambi registered a 21-15, 21-12 win over Singapore’s Zin Rei Ryan Ng in 34 minutes to set up a semi with Rajiv Ouseph. Saina took 32 minutes to dispatch Canada’s Rachel Honderich 21-8, 21-13.

H.S. Prannoy defeated Sri Lankan Dinuka Karunaratna 21-13, 21-6 to enter the semifinals. In the women’s doubles, N. Sikki Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa saw off Sri Lankan pair of Hasini Ambalangodage and Madushika Dilrukshi Beruwelage 21-11, 21-13 in just 26 minutes to enter the semifinals.

Men’s doubles pair of Satwik Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty outwitted Malaysia’s Chan Peng Soon and Goh Soon Huat 21-14, 15-21 21-9 to make the semis.

Satwik and Ashwini also reached the last four with a thrilling 21-19, 21-19 win over the Malaysian pair of Goh Soon Huat and Lai Shevon Jemie. DIPIKA IN SQUASH FINAL In squash, the team of Dipika Pallikal and Saurav Ghosal stormed into the final of the mixed doubles event overcoming top seeds Joelle King and Paul Coll of New Zealand 2-1 in the semifinals. — PTI