New Delhi: India posted one of its best results at the Commonwealth Games on Monday, winning a total of six medals as Sharmila Dhankar created history by becoming the country’s first-ever para-athletics gold medalist. On the 5th day of the competition, she won the women’s F57 shot put championship with a season-best throw of 9.81m, ending India’s 20-year wait for an Olympic and Paralympic medal. Category F57 is for athletes with lower limb injuries, limb deficiencies or weakened muscles. Shilpa K. Shyla won the bronze medal in the women’s shot put F57 event.The celebrations continued in the athletics events as Sarvesh Kushare became the first Indian to win a silver medal in the men’s high jump event. The national record holder ran 2.25m and missed out on gold after being tied with Jamaica’s Romaine Beckford on countdown. Adarsh Ram finished fifth while Tejaswin Shankar withdrew early from the decathlon as a precaution.
Weightlifters continue to compete for medals
Weightlifting once again brought victory to India. Valluri Ajaya Babu finished just one kilogram behind Malaysia’s Ery Hidayat Muhammad in a thrilling contest to claim silver in the men’s 79kg category. Gyaneshwari Yadav also bagged a silver medal in the women’s 53kg category with a career-best lift, while Bindyarani Devi won a bronze in the 58kg category, taking India’s weightlifting medal count to six.
Boxers make progress, but fortunes mixed elsewhere
Indian boxing also had a productive day with Sachin Shivaji, Ankush and Sakshi Choudhary advancing to the quarter-finals with convincing wins, although Sumit bowed out after a narrow defeat.There are times of disappointment. Sprinter Gurindervir Singh failed to qualify for the 100m hurdles semi-finals, while hurdler Tejas Shirse finished last in the 110m hurdles final due to injury. “While warming up, I suffered a scaphoid stress fracture in my left leg. I didn’t want to quit, so I told my physio to bandage it,” Hills told news agency PTI. “I am the first Indian to qualify for the CWG 110m hurdles final, so I don’t want to disappoint the entire country (withdrawing),” he added. There was not much success in swimming either, with Sajan Prakash, Aryan Nehra and para swimmer Swatik Patil failing to win medals.
