Suprita Das explains why this could be a turning point for Indian sport.
Advertisement
The celebrated wrestlers were not to be left behind and powered by Sushil Kumar and Vinesh Phogat they collected a total of 12 medals, including five gold.
The weightlifters won a bag full of medals but the tone for the golden run was set by Mirabai Chanu, who set a new Games record in women’s 48kg. Host nation Australia and England are the two countries which remained ahead of India at first and second positions respectively.
Chopra, 20, did not disappoint.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi also tweeted to congratulate the Indian team for its third place in the Games, held in Australia. It will take a special effort from all our shooters to even win half of the 16 medals they won at the Commonwealth Games.
“I’d love to see us put our hand up, I’d love to see us have a look at it”, the former Olympic rowing gold-medallist said.
“We understand many people have been disappointed by tonight’s closing ceremony and to be perfectly honest Jo, so have we been”, Zempilas said.
The sheer diversity of medal winners was a heartwarming aspect of the Games for India. With the loss, Satwik and Chirag settled for the silver medal, bringing an end to India’s campaign in the Gold Coast Games.
During the entire blunder, the marching athletes, including the flag-bearers of various countries, were seen leaving the stadium while the closing speeches were still in progress.
Emerging as one of brightest sparks of the Indian contingent in Gold Coast, Manika led the Indian table tennis to glory in Australia.
Amas Daniel won bronze coming from 4-0 down to equal it at 4-4 against South Africa’s Terry Van Rensburg, winning bronze in men’s freestyle 65kg.
The Commonwealth Games were in the United Kingdom just four years ago, when Glasgow hosted, and were in England as recently as 2002 in Manchester.
Advertisement
Perhaps the highlight of team Kenya’s dismal performance was in the Marathon, where Australian Michael Shelly became the first man since Rob De Castella to defend the Commonwealth marathon title, with Julius Karinga, the only Kenyan in the Top ten bracket, finishing 9. But the real surprise was India’s exceptional performance in Table Tennis, where it won an incredible eight medals including the men’s and women’s team events beating the favourites Singapore. The blatant infringement of the “no -needles” policy that saw a triple jumper and a race walker head home early, needs to be acted upon with utmost seriousness.
