CWG 2018: 4th gold for India as Rahul Ragala gets medal in weightlifting

With the comfortable win of Indian badminton players Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and Kidambi Srikanth, India secured a place in semis of mixed teams

Venkat Rahul Ragala became the fourth Indian weightlifter to claim a gold medal at the ongoing Commonwealth Games, coming out trumps in a tense contest here today.

The 21-year-old Rahul, who is a Commonwealth Championships gold-medallist, lifted a total of 338kg (151kg+187kg) to finish on top.

Earlier, Mirabai Chanu and Sanjita Chanu had won a gold medal each in the 48kg and 53 kg weightlifting categories, respectively. 

In badminton, with the comfortable wins of Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and Kidambi Srikanth, India secured a place in semi-finals of mixed-team badminton events. India beat Mauritius by 3-0 in the quarter-finals. 

In swimming, Indian teenager Srihari Nataraj broke the National record in the 50m backstroke heats and qualified for the semi-finals. He finished 50m backstroke in just 26.47 seconds, improving his National Record of 26.58 seconds. 

India's men's table tennis team thrashed Malaysia 3-0 in quarter-finals at the 21st Commonwealth Games 2018. 

In hockey, India men were not able to continue with their winning streak against arch rivals Pakistan and had to settle for a 2-2 draw. Before this, India had managed to win its six previous matches against Pakistan with big margins.  

Here are the latest updates of Commonwealth Games 2018

1. India secures third gold in weightlifting: Indian weightlifters are going strong with the brilliant performances at the Commonwealth Games 2018. Defending champion Sathish Kumar Sivalingam brings the third gold for the country in men's 77kg weightlifting category. 
 

He registered a total effort of 317 kg which includes 144 kg in snatch and 173 kg in clean and jerk. Defending champion Satish does not even require a third attempt at clean and jerk. 

Sathish's snatch attempts comprised impressive lifts worth 136kg, 140kg and 144kg. 

At the Commonwealth Games 2014, Sathish claimed the gold medal with a 149kg snatch and 179 kg clean and jerk lifts, totalling 328kg.

2. Indian shuttlers flying high: What a stellar performance of Indian badminton players in the mixed team event at the Commonwealth Games. India reached semi-finals in this even by thrashing Malaysia by 3-0. 

Satwik Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty started the day by giving a lead of 1-0 against Mauritius at the mixed badminton events. They defeated Aatish Lubah and Christopher Jean Paul 21-12, 21-3. The powerpack performance of Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy helped India increase the lead by 2-0. They grabbed a comfortable win against Aurelie Marie Elisa Allet and Nicki Chan-Lam by 21-12, 21-3. The world no. 2 Kidambi Srikanth sealed India's win after thrashing  Georges Julien Paul 21-12, 21-14 in the men's singles tie. 

India will now face either Singapore or Australia in the semi-finals on Sunday.  

3. India draws versus Pakistan 2-2: The high-voltage match between Indian and Pakistan ended in a draw. While India initially took a lead with Dilpreet Singh's goal in the first half,  Harmanpreet Singh converted a penalty into a goal in the second half, giving India a lead of 2-0. Pakistan, however, stepped in the second half and made it 1-2 with a strike by Muhammad Irfan Jr. Mubashar Ali later scored a goal in the 59th minute as Indians ended up conceding one to let slip what should have been a comfortable win.  

3. Swimmer Sajan Prakash in the finals: Indian player Sajan Prakash narrowly qualified for the final of swimming men's 200-metre Butterfly event. Sajan recorded a timing of 1:58.87 seconds, breaking his own national record of 1:59.10, and finish at the fifth spot in Heat 2 of the qualification round. 

4. Indian swimmer Srihari Nataraj qualifies for semi-finals: Youngster Srihari Nataraj beats his own National record by finishing 50m backstroke heats in just 26.47 seconds. He was the ninth fastest in the heats. This is the third time that the young kid from Bangalore breaks his own by improving the speed at a phenomenal pace. 

5. India outshines Fiji in lawn bowls Fours play: Indian women's team outplayed Fiji 24-9 in lawn bowls Fours Sectional Play. Farzana Khan, Lovely Choubey, Rupa Rani Tirkey and Nayanmoni Saikia now occupy the second place in section B behind Malta and look good to qualify forward. Meanwhile, in men's pairs Sectional Play, India lost 7-17 to Norfolk Island at the Broadbeach here.

6. India reaches Women's Table Tennis semi-finals: Keeping the hopes high, Indian players enter the semi-finals in the women's table tennis events. India defeated Malaysia by 3-0 in the quarter-finals. 

Monika Batra managed a comfortable win over Malaysia's Ying Ho in the opening match. She sealed the game by 11-9, 11-7, 11-7. Madhurika Patkar gave a tough fight and won the match against Karen Lyne in singles. She stated with losing the opening match by 7-11 but later recovered the match in last two round by 11-7, 11-7. In the deciding match, she won by 11-3. Madhurika and Mouma Das outclassed Ying Ho and Ai Xin Tee from Malaysia of to complete the Indian win.

7. Indian men advance to Table Tennis semis: Indian players also gave a stellar performance in the quart finals of men's Table Tennis event. Harmeet Desai gave India the early lead by beating Chee Feng Leong by 11-4, 12-10, 11-6 in the men's singles. Achanta Sharath Kamal extended the lead with an easy 11-7, 11-8, 11-6 win over Muhammad Ashraf Haiq in just 33 minutes. Desai then joined Sathiyan to carve out a 11-7, 11-6, 11-7 victory over Javen Choong and Chee Feng in men's doubles. India enters in the semi-final round in men's table tennis events. 

8. Indian gymnasts finish at 14th, cyclists disappoint: The 20-year-old gymnast from Haryana, Yogeshwar Singh finished at the 14th position in e Gymnastics All Around final. After six rotations, his final score was 75.600. Singh scored 12.250 in Pommel Horse in the final Rotation. Earlier, he had posted 11.400 in floor exercise, 12.600 in rings, 14.100 in vault, 13.000 in parallel bars and 12.250 in horizontal bars. Meanwhile, the Indian trio of cyclists finished at the penultimate spot, with Sanuraj clocking 10.381 seconds to finish at No.20, while Ranjit and Sahil took 10.486 and 10.584, to finish at 21 and 22 out of the 24 participants.

10. Joshna Chinappa beats Nick Matthew in Squash: India’s only remaining hope in women's squash now is Joshna Chinappa, who beat Australia's Tamika Saxby 11-6, 11-8, 11-4 in 22 minutes. While Dipika lost to England's Alison Waters 3-11, 6-11, 2-11, Vikram went down fighting 6-11, 11-8, 6-11, 6-11 against top-seeded Nick Matthew of England.