Commonwealth Games 2022

[Gurneet Saini]

Hello and welcome to Day 5 of the Commonwealth Games live coverage. It is a historic day for India as its women's fours team will become the first side from the nation to play the Lawn Bowls final. The day will also witness the men's table tennis team clashing with Singapore in the gold medal match and the badminton mixed team taking on Malaysia to defend their title.

India are leading 12-10 against South Africa in lawn bowls women's fours final. India are eyeing history as they chase a lawn bowls gold medal on the fifth day of CWG 2022. Also, the men's table tennis team are in action against Singapore in the gold medal match. In Athletics, Murali Sreeshankar and Muhammed Anees Yahiya have qualified for the men's long jump final. Star shot-putter Manpreet Kaur has qualified for the final too. Weightlifter Punam Yadav failed in her three clean and jerk lifts to return empty-handed from the women's 76kg category. India will aim to increase their gold medal tally as the Indian badminton team faces Malaysia in the Mixed Team final in the evening. In squash, Saurav Ghosal will face New Zealand's Paul Coll in the men's singles semi-final. In artistic gymnastics, Satyajit Mondal will play in the men's vault final and Saif Sadak Tamboli will be in action in the parallel bars finals.

Also, in action will be weightlifters Vikas Thakur (Men's 96 kg) and Usha Bannaur NK (women's 87 kg). In hockey, India will play England in a women's Pool A match. In boxing, Rohit Tokas will play his welterweight round of 16 match. In men's 200m backstroke, India's Srihari Nataraj has come up with a timing of 2:00.84 and is placed ninth in the qualifying. He has not qualified for the final as of now and has been placed in the reserve list.

[Gurneet Saini]

first boxing gold medal Wins Nitu Ghanghas



Nitu Ghanghas beat Demie-Jade Resztan of England in the final of the women’s 48kg division to win her maiden gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham by a unanimous 5-0 scoreline. This is India’s first boxing gold at CWG 2022.

Ghanghas was leading 4-1 after the first round. She dominated the second round too, winning a 4-1 verdict in her favour.

She eventually sealed the bout in a 5-0 unanimous decision.

Earlier, Nitu began her CWG campaign with a thumping win over Northern Ireland’s Nicole Clyde in the quarterfinal. The 21-year-old then repeated the feat in the semifinal against Priyanka Dhillon of Canada, with the referee stopping the contest in the third round.

Dynamic and instrumental inside the ring, the Haryana pugilist won the gold in Golden Glove Boxing tournament in Serbia. She also finished at the pole position in the World Youth Boxing Championship in 2017. The Strandja Memorial gold medallist had started boxing in 2012.

[Gurneet Saini]

India’s Commonwealth Games 2022 medals tally rose to 60 with 22 gold medals from Sharath Kamal (Table Tennis men’s singles), Satwik Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (Badminton men’s doubles), P. V. Sindhu (Badminton singles), Lakshya Sen (Badminton singles gold) on the last day in Birmingham on Monday.

India has racked up 22 gold, 15 silver and 23 bronze medals so far. For the first time ever in CWG history, the para-sports medals section was also clubbed alongside the overall medal table for every nation.

Sindhu wins first gold medal in women’s singles at Commonwealth Games

Former world champion PV Sindhu won her first CWG gold medal in women's singles after beating Michelle Li of Canada 21-15, 21-13 in the final on Monday. This is also India’s 19th gold medal of the Birmingham Games.

Sindhu won the first game 21-15 and had a five-point lead at the mid-game break in the second game. Li struggled to find her range on the backcourt in the second game. The highlight of the match was an engrossing 57-stroke rally. Both players showed excellent defence but it was the Canadian who ultimately hit the winner.

But that was a rare silver lining for Li, who eventually lost the second game to Sindhu 13-21. The Tokyo bronze medallist sealed the match with a cross court smash.

She already has a silver and a bronze in singles from the 2018 and 2014 editions.

Earlier, Sindhu beat Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min 21-19 21-17 in a 49-minute semifinal contest.

Meanwhile, Kidambi Srikanth and the women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand signed off with bronze medals in badminton on Sunday.

[Gurneet Saini]

CWG 2022 MEDAL TALLY

1 AUS 67 57 54 178

2 ENG 57 66 53 176

3 CAN 26 32 34 92

4 IND 22 16 23 61

5 NZL 20 12 17 49

6 SCO 13 11 27 51

7 NGR 12 9 14 35

8 WAL 8 6 14 28

9 RSA 7 9 11 27

10 MAS 7 8 8 23

11 NIR 7 7 4 18

[SwatiSood]

silver medal for Harmanpreet Kaur’s team

“Sath Mein Girenge, Sath Mein Uthenge, Hum Hai Team India, Hum Sath Mein Chalenge!” [We’ll fall together, we’ll rise together, we’re Team India, we’ll walk together]


After agonisingly missing out on the Commonwealth Games women’s cricket gold against Australia, Jemimah Rodrigues put down a heartfelt note on her social media accounts, praising the Indian team’s “grit, tenacity, and character” and how they will not stop until they turn this silver into gold. Likewise, the team’s vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, wrote, “Sorry that we could not get home the gold but surely golden days are ahead for this team!”

The most obvious sign of both these posts is how desperately this team wants to win and is now pushing for that elusive gold.

In the final, concussion substitute Yastika Bhatia tripped over the advertising board while walking out to bat, leaving her teammates, including Smriti Mandhana, Rodrigues and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, bursting out in laughter. This incident is another example of how well this team gets along. Despite the loss, there is harmony in the dressing room, and they are definitely a close-knit unit. This is something which has seldom been seen in women’s cricket in India.

[SwatiSood]

After three CWG gold medals, my motivation level has shot up: Sharath Kamal



It wasn't an easy journey for Achanta Sharath Kamal over the last two and half years due to the global pandemic. He is 40 now and has achieved a lot in his career. There was always the option of letting it go, no one would have complained, but Sharath was not the one to give up.
Three gold medals in CWG, including an individual gold that he won after 16 years, made it a mixture of joy and relief for the Chennai paddler. Playing 12 matches over three days might have taken a lot out of him, but Sharath is already looking ahead.
“My next target is the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. I wasn’t sure about winning so many medals at CWG but after bagging three gold medals, my motivation level has shot up. Now my primary focus will be the Paris Games,” Sharath, who returned to the city.