Birmingham, Aug 1 (Representative) As expected the star-studded weightlifting squad continued India’s push for medals on Day 3 of 2022 Commonwealth Games here on Sunday. Jeremy Lalrinnunga clinched the second gold for India with Games record display in the 67 Kg men’s weightlifting event, winning with a combined effort of 300 Kg in snatch, clean and jerk. Boxer Nikhat Zareen trounced Mozambique’s Helena Ismael 5-0 to enter 50kg quarterfinals, however, Shiva Thapa bowed out of the 63.5 kg Round of 16 losing to Scotland’s Reese Lynch. In Table Tennis, defending champions India stormed into the semifinals of the men’s team event after beating Bangladesh 3-0 in the third last-eight tie. Much was expected from Popy Hazarika, but disappointed her fans as she failed to claim a medal for the country. She finished lifting 183kg, with a split of 81kg in snatch and 102kg in clean and jerk. Experienced squash star Joshna Chinappa entered the quarterfinals after defeating New Zealand’s Kaitlyn Watts in the fourth set in pre-quarters stage.
In cricket, the Indian women team crushed archrivals Pakistan by 8 wickets in the group game while Indian Men’s team in Table Tennis reached the semifinals after defeating Bangladesh 3-0. Ace Indian swimmer Srihari Nataraj also made India proud by sailing through to semifinals in the men’s 50m backstroke. The Indian men’s hockey team pulverised Ghana 11-0 in their Pool A fixture. Harmanpreet Singh notched up a hattrick as India started their campaign at the Games on ahigh note. India’s mixed badminton team also took a 1-0 lead over South Africa in the Round of 16 clash. In Lawn Bowls, Team India reached the semifinal after trouncing Norfolk Island in the Women’s Fours Quarterfinals. In squash, India’s Saurav Ghosal reached the quarterfinals of the men’s singles event after defeating Canada’s David Baillargeon in straight sets. On Day 4 as well, India is expecting to increase their tally of medals at the Games. India’s Ajay Singh will be in action in the men’s 81kg category in weightlifting.
The fans have pinned hope on him, considering his gold medal triumph at the National Weightlifting Championships. He had then aggregated a total of 315kg to bag the men’s title. A gold at Commonwealth Championships at Tashkent helped him get direct entry into the Games last year. Ajay will be the sixth medal contender in weightlifting after Mirabai Chanu, Sanket Sargar, Bindyarani Devi, Gururaja Poojary and Jeremy Lalrinnunga won medals in their respective category events. Harjinder Kaur will be another weightlifter in the fray for medal when she competes in the women’s 71kg category finals. The task at Birmingham is much greater even though she had excelled in winning silver at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships last year and notched the top honours at 2020 Khelo India University Games.
He finished lifting 90kg in snatch and 121kg in clean and jerk for a combined lift of 211kg. Niranjan Mukundan and Suyash Narayan Jadhav are other hopefuls to win medals for India in the men’s 50m freestyle S7 finals. Niranjan entered into the finals with the timing of 33.2 seconds, whereas his compatriot Suyash did the same by clocking 32.36 seconds. Niranjan is the only para swimmer who has grabbed 50 plus medals, 60 medals specifically in his entire career. He also featured in the Forbes under 30 list, which highlighted prominent Asian members from the sports and entertainment industries, in 2019. Suyash is the first Indian Para Swimmer to register ‘A’ qualifying mark for the 2016 Paralympics in Rio and Tokyo Olympics 2020. The first gold was won by superstar Mirabai Chanu for India on Day 2 with a splendid performance. Gururaja Poojari bagged bronze, Bindyarani Devi ended with a silver medal, and India’s fourth.