India has initiated its Commonwealth Games campaign on a high note in Birmingham. India has won another gold in Weightlifting and a fifth overall medal on Sunday, July 31. The most recent of the winners, 19-year-old Jeremy Lalrinnunga lifted a total of 300kg across Snatch and Clean & Jerk to top the men’s 67kg category.
Lalrinnunga clinched the title in style by setting a new Commonwealth Games Record of 300kg (combined snatch + clean and jerk) lift. With Jeremy’s medal, India has now won two gold, two silver, and one bronze medal so far.
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India opened its medal tally on Saturday with 21-year-old weightlifter Sanket Mahadev Sargar claiming a silver in the men’s 55 kg category. He was aiming for the gold, but his two failed clean and jerk attempts spoiled his chances, and he settled for a combined lift of 248 kg (113 kg+135 kg) to clinch the silver medal. The other renowned weightlifter Gururaja Poojary, the silver medallist in the previous commonwealth games (56 kg), settled for the bronze medal in the men’s 61 kg category.
However, the biggest attraction of the day was Saikhom Mirabai Chanu, who shattered Commonwealth Games records to win India’s first gold medal. Later, another Olympic medallist boxer Lovlina Borgohain started her campaign with a 5-0 win.
Bindyarani Sorokhaibam, then, won India’s fourth medal of the day in the women’s 55 kg weightlifting. The women’s hockey team also won but the women’s table tennis team, the defending champions, unfortunately, crashed out.
PM Modi tweeted and appreciated the achievement of Mira Bai Chanu, and said that “The exceptional @mirabai_chanu makes India proud once again! Every Indian is delighted that she’s won a Gold and set a new Commonwealth record at the Birmingham Games. Her success inspires several Indians, especially budding athletes.
Meanwhile the boxer Nikhat Zareen beat Mozambique’s Helena Ismael 5-0 to enter the 50 kg quarter-finals. Whereas, Shiva Thapa bowed out of the 63.5 kg Round of 16 losing to Scotland’s Reese Lynch.
Indian swimmer Srihari Natraj took just 25.52 seconds to qualify for the semifinals of the men’s 50m backstroke event. Whereas, in the table tennis event, the defending champions India entered into the semi-finals of the men’s team event after thrashing Bangladesh 3-0 in the third last-eight event.
In cricket, India has registered its maiden win over Pakistan by defeating it by eight wickets. India chased down a 100-run target in just 11.4 overs. On the other hand, in squash, Joshana Chinappa has successfully qualified for the quarter-finals with a comfortable 3-1 win over New Zealand’s Kaitlyn Watts.
