CWG 2018: Deepak Lather becomes India's youngest medal-winner; top updates

Sanjita lifted a successful 84 kg in her second attempt, breaking her own record in Commonwealth Games 2018

Haryana’s weightlifter Deepak Lather, who won a bronze medal for India in the men's 69kg weightlifting category on Day 2 of the 21st Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, also became the youngest athlete to win a CWG medal for the country. 

The 18-year-old Haryana boy lifted a total of 295 kg (136kg + 159 kg) to finish in the third position. He finished at the third position after his nearest rival, Vaipava Ioane of Samoa, fouled his last two lifts to finish with a total of 292kg. Lather held a national record at the age of 15. 

"I was just sitting inside and hoping he (Vaipava Loane) would fail his attempt. I know it's bad to wish ill for someone but I couldn't help it," Lather said breaking into laughter after the medal ceremony.
 

India's second day at the 21st Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast in Australia started with a gold medal, with Sanjita Chanu sweeping a smashing victory in women's weightlifting in the 53-kg category.

In her first attempt, Chanu successfully lifted 81 kg, while her rival Dika Toua finished lifting 80 kg in her second attempt. 

Sanjita lifted a successful 84 kg in her second attempt, breaking her own record. Sanjita won a gold for India by increasing her overall lead by 10 kg after nailing her 108 kg lift. 

On Day 1, 23-year-old weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu had clinched for India the first gold at the 21st Commonwealth Games, with her record-smashing performance. In other events as well, Day 1 was a good one for India. 

Earlier, P Gururaja opened India's medal tally by snatching silver in the men's 56-kg category. 

Breaking her own Games and Commonwealth records, Mirabai Chanu delivered a stellar performance in the women's 48-kg category. She registered 86 kg in the snatch in the clean and in clean and jerk for a total of 196 kg.  

"I was not expecting to break records but I certainly wanted to break them when I came here. I can't put in words, how it feels right now," Chanu had told PTI after her glorious performance.

P Gururja had the best attempt of 111 kg in the snatch and 138 kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 249 kg. 

"After I failed the first two attempts, my coach reminded me how much my life depends on this. I remembered my family and my country," Gururaja said after securing the medal. 

Giving India enough reason to cheer, Yogeshwar Singh and Rakesh Patra qualifying for the individual all-around and rings finals respectively.

The stellar performance of two weightlifters took India to the seventh spot in the medal tally.

1. First bronze for India: Deepak Lather clinched the first bronze medal for India in men's 69kg weightlifting. 

Deepak created history by lifting 136 kgs and 159 kgs. He outnumbered his personal best of 132 kgs and 155 kgs.

The youngster, competing in his maiden Commonwealth Games, holds the distinction of being the youngest to hold the national record as well. He held the 62kg category national record at 15. He trained at the Army Sports Institute as a diver before being pushed into weightlifting by the coaches there.

2. 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.  

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3. India thrashes Scotland by 5-0 in badminton: India maintained its unbeaten streak in badminton by thrashing Scotland 5-0. With the extraordinary performance of Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth, India topped Group A and secured a place in semi-finals. 

* Saina Nehwal won her match against Scotland 21-14, 21-12. India took a 1-0 lead against Scotland in the tie. 

* Kidambi Srikanth did justice to his World no. 2 ranking, clinching victory against Merrilees 21-18, 21-2.

* Sikki Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa beat Scottish pair of Kirsty Gilmour and Eleanor O'Donnell 21-8, 21-12 in the women's doubles tie.

4. Sanjita Chanu wins gold in women's 53 kg weightlifting on Day 2: Day 2 started with a victorious gold medal in women's 53 kg weightlifting. Sanjita Chanu secured her second Commonwealth Games gold medal after successfully lifting a total of 192 kg. This is the second goal medal for India after her teammate Mirabai Chanu won gold in 48-kg weightlifting on Thursday. She successfully lifted 84 kg in Snatch and 108 kg in Clean and Jerk.  

"Although I had done better in the Commonwealth Championships but still I am ok with what I managed today," Chanu said. 

Chanu, an employee of the Indian Railways, broke down while receiving her gold medal. "A lot of people said that probably I wasn't good enough for a medal. My back injury that I picked up at the World Championships last year is still not fully healed. I am probably at 90 per cent right now," said the soft-spoken youngster.

5. Stellar performance by Indian gymnasts: The second day started well for Indian gymnasts. Pranati Das, Aruna Reddy, and Pranati Nayak beat Sri Lanka with a total score of 128.975 in Subdivision 1. Nayak scored highest in the vault, Reddy was fourth-best in uneven bars, Das was third in the balance beam, and topped the floor exercise.

6. Indian lawn bowls team of Chandan Singh, Sunil Bahadur and Dinesh Kumar lost 14-15 to England in the men's Sectional Triples Sectional Play in Round 3 at the Commonwealth Games. In women's Singles Round 3, Pinki lost to Litia Tikosisuva of Fiji 12-21.

7. Women cyclists advance: Indian cyclists Deborah Deborah and Aleena Reji advanced to the quarter-finals in the women's sprint qualifying at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast on Friday. In the qualification stage, Deborah finished in 13th position, clocking 11.484 seconds, while Aleena finished last with a timing of 12.207.

6.  Boxer eases in quarters: Indian boxer Naman Tanwar started his campaign in the men's Heavyweight (91 kilogram) division with a convincing victory over Tanzania's Haruna Mhando at the Commonwealth Games here on Friday.

Tanwar did face any real threat from his opponent as he cruised to a unanimous 5-0 victory at the Oxenford Studios arena here.

The Indian will next be up against Frank Masoe of Samoa in the quarter-finals.

8. Cheers for gymnasts Yogeshwar Singh and Rakesh Patra on Day 1: Indian gymnasts Yogeshwar Singh and Rakesh Patra portrayed a magical performance on the opening day of Gold Cost Commonwealth Games. With a complete dominance, Yogeshwar Singh finished 21st with 75.300 points. He scored 12.450 points in floor exercise, 12.750 in pommel horse, 12.350 in rings, 13.050 in the vault while he scored 12.300 in parallel bars and 12.400 in the horizontal bar.

Rakesh topped the rings apparatus qualifying competition with a brilliant 13.950 points in the rings event. He got 5.600 points for his difficulty level and 8.350 points for execution.

9. What to looking forward to on Day 2? All eyes are on Deepak Lather and Saraswati Rout. Deepak Lather is competing in Men’s 69kg weightlifting while Saraswati Rout in weightlifting in Women’s 58kg as India has shown outstanding perfomance in Gold Cost in Commonwealth Games. 

10. Disappointment in cycling: Indian cyclists failed to advance in men's Team Sprint, women's Team Sprint and track 4,000-metre Team Pursuit. 

Some good news from paddlers: In men's table tennis, Indian team defeated Trinidad and Tobago and Northern Ireland in Group 1. Amalraj Anthony opened India's win with a 4-1 (11-5, 3-11, 11-2, 14-12) win over Dexter St. Louis before G. Sathiyan doubled the lead with a 3-0 (11-5, 11-5, 11-4) thrashing of Aaron Wilson. 

Already 2-0 up, Harmeet Desai and Sathiyan teamed up to beat Yuvraaj Dookram and Aaron Wilson 3-0 (11-9, 11-4, 11-4) in the men's doubles match, making it 3-0 in favour of the Indians.

The women's team came out on top against Sri Lanka and Wales in Group 2. 

Against Sri Lanka, Manika Batra gave India the lead with an easy 3-0 (11-3, 11-5, 11-3) win over Erandi Warusawithana.

Sutirtha Mukherjee then doubled the lead with an 11-5, 11-8, 11-4 verdict over Ishara Badu in the second singles tie.

Sutirtha then teamed up with Pooja Sahasrabudhe to beat Badu and Hansani Kapugeekiyana 11-6, 11-7, 11-3 in the doubles match to seal the victory.

Boxers march ahead: Star boxer Manoj Kumar advanced to the round of 16 in men's boxing 69-kilogram category after convincingly thrashing Osita Umeh of Nigeria 5-0 by unanimous verdict.

Swimmers Khade, Nataraj disappoint in semis:India's Virdhawal Khade and Srihari Nataraj disappointed with eighth place finishes in the men's 50-metre butterfly event and 100-metre backstroke event semi-final 2, respectively, at the 21st Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, on Thursday.

India thrash Pak 5-0 in badminton mixed-team event: After completing its clean sweep against Sri Lanka, the star-studded Indian badminton team continued its stellar form as it thrashed arch-rivals Pakistan 5-0 in its Group A clash of the Mixed Team event on the opening day of the 2018 Commonwealth Games at Carrara Stadium in Gold Coast, Australia, on Thursday.