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Lifter Sanjita Chanu wins India's first gold
India ran away with opening day honours in the weightlifting competition of the 20th Commonwealth Games with Sukhen Dey and K Sanjita Chanu winning the gold medal in their respective events in Glasgow.
- Indians at CWG: Lifters Sukhen, Sanjita win gold
The Indian team bagged four out of six medals on offer on day one of the competition on Thursday.
Sanjita and Saikhom Mirabai Chanu opened India's campaign on a flying note by winning a gold and silver respectively in women's 48kg for the Indians at the Clyde Auditorium.
It was basically a contest between the two Manipuri lifters in an event which India had dominated for long in the Commonwealth Games from the days of Kunjarani Devi.
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'I don't feel like eating anything'
Kunjarani, now a women's coach, was beside the two state mates on the platform, egging Sanjita and Mirabai in her vernacular language. India had won a silver and bronze in this category in 2010.
The clean and jerk contest went on almost similar lines with Sanjita and Mirabai taking the bar and the bell after most of their opponents had exhausted their attempts below the 90kg entry weight of the two Indians.
There was a bit of drama at the end as Mirabai thought she had won the gold after her lift of 98kg in clean and jerk which would have put her on same total with Sanjita. In that case she would have won the yellow metal on lesser body weight.
But the judges ruled Mirabai's attempt as no-lift, apparently on the ground that her right arms were not perfectly in the right position during the lift.
Sanjita was satisfied with her performance.
"I'm so happy to claim India's first medal at the Games. I don't feel like eating anything," Sanjita said.
"The preparation had been good and we were sure that we would get two medals. I am all the more happy that I have won a gold and Mirabai a silver," she added.
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Sukhen Dey came back strongly to win gold
Sukhen Dey and Ganesh Mali bagged with first and third position in men's 56kg to cap a remarkable day.
The 25-year-old Dey lifted a total of 248kg (109+139) after trailing at the halfway snatch stage, but came back strongly in clean and jerk to win the gold. He had also won a silver in the 2010 Delhi CWG besides bagging a gold in the 2013 Commonwealth Championships in November last year.
The 21-year-old Mali was leading after snatch but slipped behind in clean and jerk to settle for bronze with a total lift of 244kg (111+133). Malaysia's Mohd Pisol Zulheimi was at fourth after snatch but recovered in fine fashion to bag the silver with a total lift of 245kg (108+137).
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England's Stimpson takes first gold medal in Glasgow
England’s Jodie Stimpson claimed the first gold medal at the Commonwealth Games with victory in the women's triathlon on Thursday.
In an enthralling finish at the Strathclyde Country Park, the 25-year-old Stimpson managed to pull away from Canada's Kirsten Sweetland to finish in one hour 58 minutes 56 seconds.
England's Vicky Holland took the bronze medal.
Later on Thursday England's Brownlee brothers, Alistair and Jonny, will go head-to-head in the men’s triathlon.
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Murdoch wins shock gold
Scotland’s Ross Murdoch upset the odds by swimming a Commonwealth Games record time to beat favourite Michael Jamieson and secure an unexpected gold in the 200 metres breaststroke.
The 20-year-old could barely believe his career-best time of two minutes 7.30 seconds, a British record, and stared open-mouthed at the digital display board following the race.
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Miley ensured Scotland got off to a winning start
Hannah Miley ensured Scotland got off to a winning start when she took the lead on the last turn of the 400m individual medley final from England’s Aimee Willmott to snatch the first gold of the evening with a new Games record.
"It was a great race between me and Aimee,” Miley said. “I had to dig deep and we pushed each other on to good times.
"It was fantastic to set a personal best here. The crowd were pretty cool. When I walked out I had my headphones on and it was hard to stay in that bubble and drown out the crowd."
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Records continued to tumble
Games records continued to tumble as Emma McKeon edged to 200m freestyle gold in a record time, securing Australia’s first medal in the pool.
The evening ended with Australia smashing the women's 4x100m freestyle relay world record by nearly a second to take gold, but the day belonged to Scotland’s new golden boy Murdoch.
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Meares takes historic gold
Anna Meares claimed her fifth Commonwealth gold as she won the 500 metres time trial to move level with fellow Australian Bradley McGee as the most successful track cyclist in the Games.
The 30-year-old Meares, Australia's flag bearer at the opening ceremony, clocked a Games record 33.43 seconds in the 500.
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Cochrane touched first
Canada’s Ryan Cochrane, who took silver at London 2012, took gold. He timed his charge perfectly to touch first in the 400m freestyle.