Shuttlers reach semi-finals
P V Sindhu suffered a three-game loss against Michelle li in the women’s singles but the Indian badminton team still managed to advance to the semifinals of the mixed team championship after defeating Canada 3-1.Silver medallists at the 2010 Delhi Games, India were leading 2-0 after the first two matches, courtesy the winning start by mixed doubles combo of Kidambi Srikanth and Jwala Gutta and men’s singles player Parupalli Kashyap. However, Hong Kong-born Michelle then stunned Sindhu 15-21 22-20 21-17 in an hour-long women’s singles match to reduce the margin. But men’s doubles pair of Pranaav Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar made sure there are no more hiccups as they notched up a 21-15 19-21 21-13 win over Adrian liu and Derrick Ng in a 49-minute match. Earlier, Srikanth and Jwala put India 1-0 ahead with a 21-19 17-21 21-18 win over Toby Ng and Alex Bruce in the mixed doubles match. Ace shuttler Parupalli Kashyap then thrashed Andrew D’Souza 21-11 21-9 in a men’s singles match that last 28 minutes to make it 2-0 in India’s favour.
Ashish will lead Indian charge
A silver-medallist from the previous edition, Ashish Kumar would once again be India’s biggest hope for a podium finish in gymnastics when the artistic routines begin on Monday. Ashish, who won a silver in the floor exercises and bronze in the vault event of the 2010 edition in Delhi, is hoping to improve the colour of his medal and climb the podium this time around. “In the events that got me silver and a bronze, I will try to convert them into two golds. But you never know in sports,” Ashish, also an Asian Games bronze-medallist, had told PTI on the eve of his departure. Ashish, who won India its first gymnastic medal in Delhi CWG is hoping that the event can once again add to the nation’s medal tally. “Dipa Karmakar is also a medal hopeful in the womens draw. So, in, my assessment would be three medals from gymnastics,” the young gymnast predicted.
EVES falter in bronze play-off
The Indian women’s table tennis team, runners-up in Delhi four years ago, failed to win a medal after losing the bronze play-off to Australia at the Scotstoun Sports Campus here on Sunday. 23-year-old Ziyu Zhang starred for Australia by winning her two singles, against the experienced Shamini Kumaresan and Madhurika Patkar respectively. Zhang’s come from behind victory in the fourth rubber against Patkar helped Australia seal the tie 3-1. Patkar, leading 6-2 in the fifth and deciding game, looked set to take the best of five play-off down to the wire. However, it wasn’t to be as a combination of defensive approach and unforced errors led to her downfall. She eventually went down 9-11 11-5 11-8 8-11 9-11. Patkar and Kumaresan had lost the preceding doubles rubber against Jian Fang lay and Miao Miao to trail 1-2 in the match.
Indian Women lose 0-3 to Nz
India eves failed to keep their winning momentum going as they were blanked 0-3 by higher-ranked New Zealand in their second Group match on Sunday. India, ranked 13th in the world, showed glimpses of individual brilliance but the girls failed combine as team to be able to break the resolute defence of fourth-ranked 'Black Sticks'. India were the second best team on the day as the Kiwi girls did not give any space to their opponents. For New Zealand Anita Punt scored two goals and Gemma Flynn scored the other. It took New Zealand just three minutes to open the scoring when Flynn utilised their first penalty corner and scored from a goal-mouth scramble. New Zealand kept up the pressure on the Indian defence thereafter but failed to add another goal to their account in the first half. The script was the same after the change of ends as New Zealand continued to dominate the proceedings and denied the Indians any inroads. New Zealand doubled their lead in the 46th minute from another penalty corner which was perfectly converted by Punt. New Zealand had a goal disallowed in the 48th minute when Flynn scored from inside the circle but India went for the referral for an infringement and won it. But a minute later New Zealand were awarded a penalty stroke for stick obstruction by an Indian defender inside the circle. The Indians once again went for the referral but this time it was disallowed and Punt made no mistake in converting the opportunity. India will next play a lowly Trinidad and Tobago tomorrow. The Indians had earlier defeated Canada 4-2 in their opening encounter. New Zealand, on the other hand, will face South Africa tomorrow. The Kiwis had thrashed Trinidad and Tobago 14-0 in the first group match.
Glory for le Clos, Halsall
Glasgow: South Africa’s Chad le Clos solidified his status as the world’s best 200m butterfly swimmer as he retained his Commonwealth Games title, while Australia added another four golds in the pool. The most impressive individual performance, however, went to England’s Fran Halsall as she broke two Commonwealth Games records in winning the women’s 50m freestyle and qualifying fastest for Sunday’s 50m butterfly final. le Clos nearly came a cropper before he even got into the pool on Saturday after twisting his ankle when slipping off a bus as he arrived back at the athletes’ village on Friday night. However, once he was in the water he sped clear of the field in the final 50 metres.
NZ sevens on track for fifth title
Four-time champions New Zealand remained on track to add an unprecedented fifth CWG rugby union sevens crown to their accolades after surviving a Scottish scare on the first day’s action. In a fantastic promotion of a high-octane sport that will feature at the Rio Olympics in 2016, the games came thick and fast on Saturday in front of a raucous capacity crowd at Ibrox Stadium, home to European football giants Rangers. After easily seeing Canada off 39-0 in their opening Pool A game, the All Blacks struggled to a 17-14 victory over hosts Scotland. The Scots, boasting full internationals Stuart Hogg and Sean lamont in their ranks, fought back from a 17-0 deficit with lee Jones and Scott Wight both crossing for tries.