Here are the top 10 moments from the eighth day of the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Indian wrestlers dominated the field with three gold, one silver and two bronze medals.
Bajrang strikes gold again
Bajrang Punia celebrates with the Indian flag after defeating Lachlan McNeil of Canada in the men’s freestyle wrestling 65kg final on Friday. | Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES
Bajrang Punia defended his Commonwealth Games title by beating Canada’s Lachlan McNeil in the men’s 65kg final to give India its first wrestling gold medal at CWG 2022. He had won the gold in the same weight category at the 2018 Games in Gold Coast after clinching a silver in the 61kg class in 2014.
A bitter pill to swallow
Navneet Kaur, Devi Sharmila, Neha and Deep Grace Ekka look dejected following India’s defeat to Australia in the women’s hockey semifinal on Friday. | Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES
The Indian women’s hockey team suffered an agonising 3-0 defeat in the penalty shootout against Australia in the semifinal. The shootout was marred by controversy as Australia was allowed to retake a shot it had missed owing to a shot-clock error. The scores were tied 1-1 in regulation time after India scored in the 49th minute to negate Australia’s early lead.
Sakshi scripts golden comeback
Sakshi Malik celebrates after defeating Ana Godinez Gonzalez of Canada in the women’s freestyle 62kg final on Friday. | Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES
Sakshi Malik beat Canada’s Ana Godinez Gonzalez to win gold in the women’s 62kg freestyle wrestling event. Trailing 2-3 after the first round, Sakshi stunned her opponent by registering a victory by fall in the second to bag her third Commonwealth Games medal and first gold. Sakshi had won a silver in 2014 in the 58kg class and a bronze in 2018.
Deepak completes a golden hat-trick
Deepak Punia competes against Muhammad Inam of Pakistan in the men’s freestyle wrestling 86kg final on Friday. | Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES
Deepak Punia beat Muhammad Inam of Pakistan 3-0 in the men’s 86kg freestyle event as India earned a third gold medal from wrestling in the ongoing Games. He had endured a fifth-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics and showed signs of weakness in his bronze medal finish at the 2022 Asian Championships but proved too strong for the CWG field.
Lawn Bowls - the flavour of the season
FILE PHOTO: Chandan Kumar Singh competes during Men’s Fours Section C Round 3 match between England and India on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES
Less than three days after the Indian women’s fours team took the world by storm by winning India’s first lawn bowls medal at the Commonwealth Games, the men’s fours team comprising Sunil Bahadur, Navneet Singh, Chandan Kumar Singh and Dinesh Kumar assured India of another medal by beating host England 13-12 in the semifinal to enter the final.
Anshu stumbles on final hurdle
Anshu Malik reacts after losing to Odunayo Folasade Adekuoroye of Nigeria in the women’s freestyle wrestling 57kg category event on Friday. | Photo Credit: PTI
Anshu Malik had to settle for a silver after losing to Odunayo Folasade Adekuoroye of Nigeria 3-7 in the women’s freestyle 57kg category wrestling final. While Adekuoroye bagged her third successive Commonwealth Games gold, it was 21-year-old’s first CWG medal. Anshu had beaten her opponents in the quarterfinal and the semis by technical superiority and without dropping a point.
Divya cruises to bronze medal
Divya Kakran (second from right) on the podium after winning the bronze in the women’s freestyle wrestling 68kg event on Friday. | Photo Credit: PTI
Divya Kakran beat Tonga’s Tiger Lily Cocker Lemalie in the women’s 68kg freestyle wrestling event in just 26 seconds via victory by fall to win her second bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games. Divya had registered another victory by fall, in just over a minute, in Repechage after being blanked 11-0 in her quarterfinal by Nigeria’s Blessing Oborududu.
Half a dozen for Indian wrestlers
Mohit Grewal reacts after beating Aaron Johnson of Jamaica in the bronze medal match in the men’s 125kg freestyle wrestling event on Friday. | Photo Credit: REUTERS
Mohit Grewal outclassed Jamaica’s Aaron Johnson in men’s 125kg category bronze medal match to win India’s sixth medal in wrestling at CWG 2022. Mohit won his bout over Johnson by a fall after leading 4-0. This was Mohit’s first medal at the Commonwealth Games. He had posted a convincing 10-1 win in the quarterfinal before going down 2-12 in the semis.
Age just a number
Melanie Inness, George Miller, Robert Barr and Sarah Jane Ewing of Scotland celebrate after winning the gold in the Para Mixed Pairs B2/B3 event on Friday. | Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES
At 75 years and eight months, George Miller of Scotland became the oldest gold medallist in the history of the Commonwealth Games when Scotland beat Wales 16-9 after 14 ends in the Para Mixed Pairs B2/B3 final. Earlier, Miller’s compatriot Rosemary Lenton had made headlines when she won the gold in the Women’s Pairs B6-B8 at the age of 72.
Ekimova turns heads
Marfa Ekimova of England competes in the Individual All-Around Final on Friday. | Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES
Marfa Ekimova became the first English athlete to win a gold in the individual all-round rhythmic gymnastics event and the first medallist from England in the event since 1994. Ekimova finished first with a total of 112.3 points, while Anna Sokolova of Cyprus and Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva of Australia came second and third, respectively.
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