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India dominated the range and the ring as Shreyasi Singh's double trap gold shored up the medal tally while the entire men's Indian boxing contingent made the semi-finals to be assured of podium finishes in an unprecedented performance on Day 7 of the 21st Commonwealth Games, in Gold Coast on Wednesday.
On the overall medal tally, India held on the third position with 12 gold medals, four silver and eight bronze medals for a total of 24 so far. This number is expected to jump substantially once the wrestlers begin their campaign on Thursday and the boxing medals are finalised in the next two days.
The Belmont Shooting Centre in Brisbane continued to be a happy hunting ground for Indian shooters and for a fourth successive day the country had a medal to celebrate. Shreyasi, a silver-medallist from the 2014 edition, beat Australia's Emma Cox in a shoot-off to improve the colour of her medal from the last time.
Check out how India fared on Day 7:
High jumper Tejaswin, quartermiler Hima both finish 6th
India continued their search for a medal from athletics in the 21st Commonwealth Games with high jumper Tejaswin Shankar and quartermiler Hima Das both finishing sixth in their respective events.
The 19-year-old national record holder Tejaswin could not clear 2.27m in three attempts to be out of contention for a podium finish. The Delhi athlete had leaped 2.28m while winning the gold in the Federation Cup National Championships last month but he was not in his element.
Tejaswin started with 2.18m which he cleared in his second attempt and sailed the 2.21m-high bar comfortably. He then cleared 2.24m in his first attempt but stuck at 2.27m to the disappointment of the Indian athletics contingent.
In the women's 400m finals, Hima ran yet another personal best of 51.32 seconds but that was enough for a sixth place finish.
Hima clocked the same time as fifth place Maximila Imali of Kenya but the Indian had to settle at sixth place in a photo finish.
Botswana's Amantle Montsho took the gold in 50.14 seconds while the Jamaican duo of Anastasia Le-Roy (50.57) and Stephenie McPherson (50.93).
In the women's long jump, Nayana James and Neena Varakil made it to the finals after finishing ninth and 12th respectively overall in the qualification round.
Nayana cleared 6.34m in her second attempt to finish fourth in Group B while Neena had a best effort of 6.24 to end at sixth in Group A.
Those who clear 6.60m or at least 12 best performers advance to the final. In the qualification round, only four competitors got past 6.60m.
Nayana has a season's best of 6.51m which she achieved at the Federation Cup National Championships where she won a gold last month while Neena has a season's best of 6.42m which she managed during the Asian Games test event in Jakarta in February.
The 2015 World Championships silver medallist Shara Proctor of England qualified for the finals on the top of the heap with a best effort of 6.89m while current world season leader Christabel Nettey of Canada was second with 6.79m.
The women's long jump final will be held on Thursday.
Pallikal, Chinappa advance to women's doubles quarters
Defending champions Dipikal Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa advanced to the women's doubles quarterfinals at the Commonwealth Games on Wednesday.
Chinappa and Pallikal outclassed Malta's Dianne Kellas and Colette Sultana winning the tie in straight games 11-5, 11-6.
Earlier, the third seeds started proceedings against Tesni Evans and Deon Saffery of Wales. They won the first game 11-8 but faltered in the second to lose it 7-11.
However, the duo used its experience to wrap up the match in style, winning the third game 11-8 in 10 minutes.
They had defeated Pakistan's Fazia Zafar and Madina Zafar in their first group stage match on Tuesday.
Pallikal and Chinappa topped the group by wining all three games.
In the mixed doubles draw, Chinappa and Harinder Pal Sandhu sailed past the Scottish pair of Lisa Aitken and Kevin Moran 11-10, 11-8.
In the men's doubles, the 11th seeded duo of Vikram Malhotra and Ramit Tandon caused an upset beating the higher seeded Welsh pairing of Peter Creed and Joel Makin 11-7, 8-11, 11-10.
Mary Kom lead Indian boxing's charge
The indomitable M C Mary Kom (48kg) stormed into the finals and was on course to deliver India's maiden Commonwealth Games gold in women's boxing, while Vikas Krishan (75kg) along with two others entered the men's semi-finals.
Five-time world champion and Olympic bronze-medallist Mary Kom defeated a defensive Anusha Dilrukshi Koddithuwakku of Sri Lanka 5-0 to make the summit clash in her debut appearance at the Games.
Among the men, the debutant duo of Gaurav Solanki (52kg) and Manish Kaushik (60kg), world bronze-medallist Vikas made the semifinals to be assured of medals.
This takes the total number of male boxers in medal rounds to eight, a 100 per cent success rate in the event and one more in numbers compared to their best ever show at 2010 CWG.
Shuttlers win easy in opening matches
Fit-again top seed P V Sindhu led the charge as Indian shuttlers made short work of their respective rivals to enter pre-quarterfinals of the singles competition in the Commonwealth Games, in Gold Coast, on Wednesday.
Sindhu, who sat out of the gold-winning team campaign because of an ankle injury, took just 18 minutes to oust Fiji's Andra Whiteside 21-6, 21-3 in her first match of the competition.
"It has been pretty easy today. I hope that it continues tomorrow. I am better and totally fine, so it is really exciting," she said and thanked the crowd for making her feel at home in a foreign land with its vociferous support.
Second seed Saina Nehwal, despite being exhausted considerably due to playing the entire team event, also took a mere 18 minutes to dispatch Elsie de Villiers of South Africa 21-3, 21-1 in the round of 32 at the Carrara Sport and Leisure Centre.
The Olympic bronze-medallist was as sharp as she is at her best and showed no hint of exhaustion during the match.
"It has been a long week. I just want to be focused and enjoy the tournament. The plus point is I have been playing on this court. When you play somewhere for a week or two you get used to the conditions, so I think that is what happened," she said.
Ruthivika Gadde too ensured that she wrapped up her match 18 minutes, sending Ghana's Grace Atipaka out of the competition with a 21-5, 21-7 triumph.
In the men's draw, Kidambi Srikanth was also quite clinical as he got past Mauritian Aatish Lubah 21-13, 21-10.
"It was a good match and a good start to the individual event. I am really happy for the way it went, and I want to keep doing it," he said.
Just like their dominant show in the team competition, the Indian shuttlers are expected to sweep the individual events.
Shooter Ankur Mittal bags bronze
Ankur Mittal added to the Indian shooting contingent's medal rush by winning a bronze in the men's double trap event at the 21st Commonwealth Games on Wednesday.
The 26-year-old marksman finished third on the podium after a score of 53 in the final at the Belmont Shooting Centre.
Mohammed Asab, the other Indian shooter in the six-man final, was fourth, a climb down from the bronze medal he won at the Glasgow Games years ago.
Scotland's David Mcmath claimed the gold medal with a Games record 74, while the silver went to Tim Kneale (70) of Isle of Man.
The experienced James Willett was the first to be eliminated.
Mittal, who won a silver medal in the World Championships in Moscow last year and silver and gold in the ISSF World Cups, was fifth with 133 in the qualifying.
He placed fifth in the 2014 Games.
Asab shot 137 to get into a shoot-off with McMath in the qualification before finishing second.
Shreyasi Singh wins gold
Shreyasi Singh held her nerve and produced some excellent shooting to win the women's double trap gold medal at the 21st Commonwealth Games on Wednesday.
The 26-year-old Delhi girl shot 96 in the final and beat Australia's Emma Cox 2 shots to 1 in the shoot-off at Belmont Shooting Centre.
The other Indian contender in the field, Varsha Varman finished fourth with 86.
The bronze medal went to Scotland's Linda Pearson who shot 87 to finish a point ahead of Varsha, who held the third place for a while.
The 26-year-old Shreyasi, thus, improved on her silver medal-winning effort at the Glasgow Games four years ago.
Shreyasi was on the second position while Varsha was on the third position after three rounds.
Recently, she won a silver medal in the double trap event at the 2017 Commonwealth Shooting Championships.
Shreyasi, whose grandfather and father served in the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) as its president, represented the country in two events at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games Delhi but failed to win a single medal.
The Delhi-born Shreyasi won the individual silver medal in double trap in Glasgow and followed that by winning a bronze medal at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.
The result at the ongoing Games ensured the experienced shooter won the elusive gold.
TT: Sharath survives scare
India's top paddler Sharath Kamal survived a mighty scare against world no. 488 Javen Choong of Malyaisa, scraping through 4-3 in the men's singles round of 32.
Sharath, who won the singles gold in the 2006 Melbourne edition, lost the momentum after winning the first three games. However, the world no. 48 did just enough to outlast Choong 11-2, 11-5, 11-4, 7-11, 11-13, 6-11, 11-7.
Also advanced in the singles draw was his doubles partner G Sathiyan. The world no. 46 beat Muhammad Rameez of Pakistan 11-5, 11-3, 11-5, 11-3.
In the women's singles, Mouma Das beat Elodie Ho Wan Kau of Mauritius 11-6, 11-1, 11-8, 11-7 and Madhurika Patkar overcame Trinidad and Tobago's Rheann Chung 11-7, 14-12, 11-9, 11-2, 11-9 to to advance to the round of 16.
In the men's doubles, Sharath and Sathiyan comfortably progressed to the round of 16 after they thrashed Kiribati duo Tauramoa Miita and Nooa Takooa 3-0.
The Indian pair had no problems against their inexperienced opponents, convincing clinching the affair 11-2, 11-5, 11-6.
Harmeet Desai and Sanil defeated Guyana's Shemar Britton and Christopher Franklin 11-6, 11-5, 11-7 in another men's doubles round of 32 match.
In the women's doubles, Pooja Sahasrabudhe and Suthirtha Mukherjee got the better of Mauritius' Ruqayyah Kinoo and Sanjana Ramasawmy 11-3, 11-4, 11-4.
In the mixed doubles, the experienced pairing of Das and Sharath beat Sri Lanka's Sirisena Rohan andMadurangi Ishara 11-6, 4-11, 11-9, 11-5 even as Sathiyan and Manika Batra notched up a comfortable victory against Malaysia's 11-7, 11-8, 13-11.
Sanil and Madhurika also registered a 11-5, 11-8, 11-5 win against Jayasingha Mudiyanselage Buwaneka and Warusawithana Erandi of Sri Lanka.
However, the combo of Sahasrabudhe Pooja and Desai Harmeet went down to Malaysia's Choong and Lyne Karen 6-11, 6-11, 11-3, 9-11.