Worth their ‘weight’ in gold
SaikomMirabhaiChanu – Gold medal (Women’s 48kg weightlifting)
KhumukchamSanjitaChanu – Gold medal (Women’s 53kg weightlifting)
PunamYadav – Gold medal (Women’s 63kg weightlifting)
World champion MirabhaiChanu barely broke a sweat as she eclipsed record after record each time she took the stage. With a total lift of 196kg (86kg in snatch and 110kg in clean and jerk), the 23 year-old champion lifted all her 6 lifts cleanly to secure India’s first gold of the games. Fellow Manipuri SanjitaChanu was not far behind either as she saw off a challenge from the defending champion to clinch gold. PunamYadav capped off a successful campaign for the women, as the farmer’s daughter lifted the third gold for the women in the 63kg category with an improvement of 4kg from her previous best.
On target
Manu Bhaker – Gold medal (Women’s 10m air pistol)
Shreyasi Singh – Gold medal (Women’s double trap)
TejaswiniSawant – Gold medal (Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions)
HeenaSidhu – Gold medal (Women’s 25m air pistol)
HeenaSidhu – Silver medal (Women’s 10m air pistol)
MehuliGhosh – Silver medal (Women’s 10m air rifle)
AnjumMoudgil – Silver medal (Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions)
TejaswiniSawant – Silver medal (Women’s 50m Rifle prone)
ApurviChandela – Bronze medal (Women’s 10m air rifle)
Indian shooters were expected to shine at the games and they didn’t disappoint. With a number of 1-2 finishes, the Indian contingent won 16 medals. Success spanned from the 16-year old Manu Bhaker shining on the big stage to the 37-year old veteran TejaswiniSawant became the India’s oldest medallist at the Games. Bhaker competing in her first major event, shot like a pro outshining her seasoned compatriot HeenaSidhu in her pet event. Sidhubounced back with a vengeance in the 25m air pistol final displagold medal in the 25m air pistol final. There was heart break for 17-year old MehuliGhosh as she missed gold by a whisker in a shoot-off. ApurviChandela finished right behind Ghosh to clinch bronze.
Paddle ‘sweep’
ManikaBatra – Gold medal (Women’s singles)
Manika, Mouma, Madhurika, Pooja, Sutirta – Gold medal (Women’s team event)
ManikaBatra and Mouma Das – Silver medal (Women’s doubles)
ManikaBatra and Sathiyan G – Bronze medal (Mixed doubles)
The surprise package at the Games was the table tennis team. ManikaBatrawas the undisputed star and toast of the nation as she finished with 4 medals including the coveted gold in the women’s individual final. To put things in perspective if Batra was a country she would have finished 18th in the medal tally out of 71 countries. The 22 year-old became the first Indian woman to win an individual gold medal for the country. Not only did she shine on her own merit but led from the front in the women’s team as well, winning both her singles outings to give the side a crucial edge over favourites Singapore. She capped off her exploits by clinching a silver in the women’s doubles with seasoned player Mouma Das and a bronze in mixed doubles with Sathiyan G.
A new star was born and shone bright in the Gold Coast.
Pack a punch
Mary Kom – Gold medal (Women’s boxing 46-48kg)
Mary Kom dusted off the rust after a two year sabbatical, returning to the ring in style. In her first Commonwealth Games appearance ‘Magnificent Mary’ outclassed her younger opponent to win yet another gold medal for her country. In an added privilege, the 35 year-old was chosen as the flag bearer for the closing ceremony.
Smashing success
Saina, Sindhu, Srikanth, Prannoy, Ruthvika, Ashwini, Sikki, Satwik, Pranaav, Chirag – Gold medal (Badminton mixed team event)
SainaNehwal – Gold medal (Badminton women’s singles)
PV Sindhu – Silver medal (Women’s singles badminton)
AshwiniPonnappa and Sikki Reddy – Bronze medal (Women’s doubles badminton)
Indian badminton has been on the rise over the last few years and this Games was no different as the Indians raked in the medals. Indians biggest stars SainaNehwal and PV Sindhu fought hard in a gruelling summit clash. Nehwal got the better of Sindhu to win the gold. AshwiniPonappa and Sikki Reddy also had a fantastic tournament but the hectic schedule finally seemed to get to them as they had to settle for a bronze in the women’s doubles event. The women rose to the occasion in the mixed team event as India won gold metal in yet another event.
Silver lining
DipikaPallikalKarthik and SauravGhosal – Silver medal (Mixed doubles squash)
DipikaPallikalKarhik and JoshnaChinappa – Silver medal (Women’s doubles squash)
DipikaPallikal walked away with two silver medals. Pallikal and mixed doubles partner SauravGhosal were outlasted by the local team of Donna Urqujart and Cameron Pilley and had to settle for silver. As the defending champion with JoshnaChinappa in the women’s doubles they were unable to defend their title as they lost to the Kiwi pair of Joelle King and Amander Landers-Murphy.
Pinned down
VineshPhogat – Gold medal (Women’s 50kg wrestling)
BabitaPhogat – Silver medal (Women’s 53kg wrestling)
PoojaDhanda – Silver medal (Women’s 57kg wrestling)
Sakshi Malik – Bronze medal (Women’s 62kg wrestling)
DivyaKakran – Bronze medal (Women’s 68kg wrestling)
Kiran – Bronze medal (Women’s 76kg wrestling)
VineshPhogat made a triumphant return to the mat after her horrific injury at the Rio Olympics and clinched the gold medal dominating her Canadian opponent in the final. Other wrestlers were expected to rake in gold medals but had to settle for silver and bronze medals instead.
Flying high
SeemaPunia – Silver medal (Women’s Discus Throw)
NavjeetDhillon – Bronze medal (Women’s Discus Throw)
There was double the happiness for India as SeemaPunia and NavjeetDhillon won silver and bronze medals respectively. The duo was pipped to gold by home girl Dani Stevens. Punia who has won a medal at the Commonwealth Games every year that she has competed in since 2006 finished her CWG career on a high. Dhillon sneaked into third place with her final throw to add to India’s medal tally
Indian medal winners
| Players | Event | Medal |
| Athletics | ||
| Neeraj Chopra | Men’s Javelin Throw | Gold |
| SeemaPunia | Women’s Discus Throw | Silver |
| NavjeetDhillon | Women’s Discus Throw | Bronze |
| Badminton | ||
| Saina, Sindhu, Srikanth, Prannoy, Ruthvika, Ashwini, Sikki, Satwik, Pranaav, Chirag | Mixed Team | Gold |
| SainaNehwal | Women’s Singles | Gold |
| PV Sindhu | Women’s Singles | Silver |
| KidambiSrikanth | Men’s singles | Silver |
| SatwiksairajRankireddy / ChiragShetty | Men’s doubles | Silver |
| AshwiniPonnappa / Sikki Reddy | Women’s doubles | Bronze |
| Boxing | ||
| Mary Kom | Women’s 46-48 kg | Gold |
| VikasKrishan | Men’s 75 kg | Gold |
| GauravSolanki | Men’s 52 kg | Gold |
| Satish Kumar | Men’s 91 kg | Silver |
| AmitPhangal | Men’s 46-49 kg | Silver |
| Manish Kaushik | Men’s 60 kg | Silver |
| NamanTanwar | Men’s 81 kg | Bronze |
| Manoj Kumar | Men’s 69 kg | Bronze |
| Hussamuddin Muhammad | Men’s 91 kg | Bronze |
| Para Powerlifting | ||
| Sachin Chaudhary | Men’s Heavyweight | Bronze |
| Shooting | ||
| AnishBhanwala | Men’s 25m rapid fire pistol | Gold |
| Manu Bhaker | Women’s 10m air pistol | Gold |
| Shreyasi Singh | Women’s double trap | Gold |
| JituRai | Men’s 10m air pistol | Gold |
| Sanjeev Rajput | Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions | Gold |
| TejaswiniSawant | Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions | Gold |
| HeenaSidhu | Women’s 25m pistol | Gold |
| MehuliGhosh | Women’s 10m air rifle | Silver |
| HeenaSidhu | Women’s 10m air pistol | Silver |
| AnjumMoudgil | Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions | Silver |
| TejaswiniSawant | Women’s 50m Rifle prone | Silver |
| Om Mitharval | Men’s 10m air pistol | Bronze |
| Om Mitharval | Men’s 50m air pistol | Bronze |
| Ravi Kumar | Men’s 50m pistol | Bronze |
| Ankur Mittal | Men’s trap shooting | Bronze |
| ApurviChandela | Women’s 10m air rifle | Bronze |
| Squash | ||
| DipikaPallikalKarthik/ SauravGhosal | Mixed doubles | Silver |
| DipikaPallikalKarthik/ JoshnaChinappa | Women’s doubles | Silver |
| Table Tennis | ||
| Manika, Mouma, Madhurika, Pooja, Sutirta | Women’s team | Gold |
| Sathiyan, Sharath, Harmeet, Sanil, Amalraj | Men’s team | Gold |
| ManikaBatra | Women’s singles | Gold |
| AchantaSharath Kamal / Sathiyan G |
Men’s doubles | Silver |
| ManikaBatra / Mouma Das | Women’s doubles | Silver |
| Harmeet Desai / SanilShetty | Men’s doubles | Bronze |
| AchantaSharath Kamal | Men’s singles | Bronze |
| ManikaBatra / Sathiyan G | Mixed doubles | Bronze |
| Weightlifting | ||
| MirabaiChanu | Women’s 48 kg | Gold |
| SanjitaChanu | Women’s 53 kg | Gold |
| Satish Kumar Sivalingam | Men’s 77 kg | Gold |
| VenkatRagulRagala | Men’s 85 kg | Gold |
| PunamYadav | Women’s 69 kg | Gold |
| Pardeep Singh | Men’s 105 kg | Silver |
| Gururaja P | Men’s 56 kg | Silver |
| Deepak Lather | Men’s 69 kg | Bronze |
| Vikas Thakur | Men’s 94 kg | Bronze |
| Wrestling | ||
| Sushil Kumar | Men’s 74 kg | Gold |
| Rahul Aware | Men’s 57 kg | Gold |
| BajrangPunia | Men’s 65 kg | Gold |
| Sumit | Men’s 125 kg | Gold |
| VineshPhogat | Women’s 50 kg | Gold |
| MausamKhatri | Men’s 97 kg | Silver |
| BabitaPhogat | Women’s 53 kg | Silver |
| PoojaDhanda | Women’s 57 kg | Silver |
| Somveer | Men’s 86 kg | Bronze |
| Sakshi Malik | Women’s 62 kg | Bronze |
| DivyaKakran | Women’s 68 kg | Bronze |
| Kiran | Women’s 76 kg | Bronze |
A record-smashing MirabaiChanuSanjitaChanu picks up her second Commonwealth Games gold medal, adding the 53kg class crown to the 48kg class gold she won in Glasgow in 2014. It is India’s second gold medal in Gold Coast after her Manipur teammate MirabaiChanu’s success in the 48kg class yesterday. SanjitaChanu had to beat back a challenge by Papua New Guinea’s Loa DikaToua and lift a total of 192 kgs, including a Games Record of 84 kgs in snatch and 108 kgs in clean and jerk. Her performance here should be a catalyst in her securing the Arjuna Award this year without having to take legal recourse. Her coaches may have been conservative in deciding not to get her to attempt improving on her personal best of 85 kgs in snatch, perhaps being influenced by the fact that Papua New Guinean could turn the tables in clean and jerk. In the event, Loa DikaToua finished a good 10 kgs behind the younger lifter from India.
