In what could be a perfect day to start with for the Indian Athletes at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, India won their second medal and their first gold medal within hours from the start of this mega event. This time it was Mirabai Chanu in 48 kg Weightlifting who bettered from the medal color of fellow weightlifter P Gururaja.
Saikhom Mirabai Chanu of India won gold medal of the 48kg event with the total lift of 196 kg (86 kg in snatch, 110 kg in clean & jerk), which, incidentally, is also new Commonwealth Games record, national record and her personal best. Silver Medal from the event went to Mauritius’ Marie Hanitra Roilya Ranaivosoa with a total lift of 170 kg and Bronze medal was grabbed by Sri Lanka’s Dinusha Gomes who lifted 155 kg. She had a dominating presence at the event as she swept the snatch variant by a healthy 10 kg.
Mirabai had also won gold medal of the Commonwealth Senior Weightlifting Championships (Gold Coast, Australia) in 2017. She couldn’t do much at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics, but this win will give her some satisfaction as a sportsperson.
India in other events:
Indian Cycling Team cpmprising Amritha, Monorama Devi and Deborah finished 7th with timing 5:05.668 in Women’s 4000m Team Pursuit Qualification.
India lost to Wales 2-3 in Women’s Hockey.
Indian Table Tennis team beat Sri Lanka in the opening encounter of group stage by 3-0. Manika Batra and Sutirtha Mukherjee won their respective singles matches followed by a doubles win for Sutirtha & Pooja Sahshrabudhe.
Indian Badminton team won 5-0 against Sri Lanka in opening encounter. Pranaav Jerry Chopra & Ruthvika Gadde won 21-15, 19-21, 22-20 in mixed doubles. Kidambi Srikanth won against Niluka Karunaratne by 21-16, 21-10. Satwik Rankireddy & Chiraag Shetty beat Dinuka Karunaratne & Buwaneka Goonethilekka 21-17 21-14 in Men’s doubles. Saina Nehwal beat Madushika Dilrukshi Beruwelage 21-8 21-4 in Women’s Singles. And Ashwini Ponnappa & Sikki Reddy won against Hendahewa & Sirimannage in Women’s Doubles.
Indian Lawn Bowls team hadn’t had a great outing as New Zealand’s Jo Edwards got better of Pinki 20-16 in Women’s Singles Sectional Play – Section D while Team Wales outplayed Team India 23-9 in Men’s Triples Sectional Play – Section A.