Key updates as India bag four medals on Saturday:

  • Weightlifting: Mirabai Chanu wins gold medal with a stunning games record performance in women’s 49kg. Bindyarani joins the superstar in reaching the podium, winning the silver in women’s 55kg.
  • Weightlifting: Sanket Mahadev Sargar opens India’s account with a silver medal in men’s 55kg. Gururaja followed up with a bronze medal in men’s 61kg.
  • Table tennis: Women’s team stunned by Malaysia in a thrilling quarterfinal, their title defence is over. On a day of 4 medals won, this was one lost. Men’s team won 3 out of 3 to reach QFs.
  • Hockey: Savita Punia & Co make it 2 wins out of 2, as they defeated Wales 3-1. Tougher tests await against England, Canada in what is going to be a closer group.
  • Boxing: Lovlina, Hussamuddin progress to their respective next rounds. But Sanjeet stunned in a split decision.
  • Squash: Joshna Chinappa, Sourav Ghosal reach singles round of 32. Anahat Singh puts up a superb fight but bows out against world No 19.
  • Badminton: Lakshya & Co defeat Sri Lanka 5-0; Srikanth, Sindhu & Co then defeat Australia.
  • Swimming: Srihari Nataraj finishes 7th in men’s backstroke 100m final.
  • Gymnastics: Pranati Nayak is through to the Vault apparatus final, Ruthuja Natraj is through to the all-around final

Badminton mixed team Group A, India 4-1 Australia: Ashwini-Sumeeth see this out in straight games. 14 wins out of 15 matches played in the group stage. GOOD NIGHT, THEN!

Badminton mixed team Group A, India 3-1 Australia: We might actually stick around to see this through. A 11-2 lead for Ashwini-Sumeeth in the 2nd game after a good battle in the first.

Badminton mixed team Group A, India 3-1 Australia: We will have to leave the blog here at this point. As much as we love badminton, this dead rubber (That is getting further delayed due to court repairs) will have to wait. We will update this in the morning.

Lawn bowls update:

Artistic Gymnastics, Women’s Team final and Individual qualification: Some good news from the gymnastics too we missed a little while back, Pranati Nayak is through to the VAULT apparatus final and with the third best score as well. Elsewhere, Ruthuja Natraj is through to the all-around final in 13th place considering eligibilities. In the team event, India finished 9th overall (not everyone registered scores in all events)

Badminton mixed team Group A, India 3-1 Australia: The mixed double tie will be played shortly. Ashwini/Sumeeth on court.

Weightlifting, Women’s 55kg - Final: A beaming Bindyarani on the podium to cap a fine day of weightlifting action for India.

Weightlifting, Women’s 55kg - Final: After a medal was assured, Bindyarani produced a new PB and Games Record C&J attempt with her last lift and made it a silver.

Weightlifting, Women’s 55kg - Final: Bindyarani wins silver! The Indian finishes with a Games record clean and jerk lift of 116kgs for a total of 202kgs!

Weightlifting, Women’s 55kg - Final: A curious decision from India, to go for 116kg when that wouldn’t give her gold. Could have done 114kg anyway. But if she gets it, it’s silver.

Weightlifting, Women’s 55kg - Final: Morrow tries 115kgs to go for gold but fails. Still, a medal for the Englishwoman and she celebrates with a backflip!

Badminton mixed team Group A, India 3-1 Australia: Slightly disappointing result that as Gayatri-Treesa go down in straight games against Gronya-Wendy. The Aussies are good players, sure, but this is one Indians will have wanted to win.

Weightlifting, Women’s 55kg - Final: It’s a failed 2nd attempt for Bindyarani, at 114kg. She has one more to go, and she can either go for gold or silver based on what Morrow does.

Weightlifting, Women’s 55kg - Final Adijat Olarinoye just about lifts 110kgs with one of the jury members flagging her lift. After a review, the lift is called a foul and the Nigerian will have to go again, she gets it right. So she takes over first spot. NGR 1, ENG 2, IND 3 at the moment but the attempts left means Bindyarani has a slight advantage.

Weightlifting, Women’s 55kg - Final: Medal confirmed for Bindyarani Devi! She gets 110kg done with her first attempt and has a heads up against English lifter with 2 attempts left compared to her one.

Weightlifting, Women’s 55kg - Final: We are into the business end of this now. Morrow with a 2nd attempt of 109kg.

Weightlifting, Women’s 55kg - Final: Half the field is done with their clean and jerk attempts. Bindyarani, Olarinoye and Morrow will soon be out to decide the medal places.

Badminton mixed team Group A, India vs Australia: Treesa-Gayatri lost the first game 21-13 but have started strongly in the second game and currently lead 8-7 in the second game.

Badminton mixed team Group A, India vs Australia: Well, its been a while since we mentioned badminton so here’s a quick update. Srikanth, Sindhu and Sumeeth-Chirag all registered straight games win. The women’s doubles is underway now and Gayatri-Treesa are trailing 8-13. They have been starting off a bit slow.

Swimming (Men’s 100m backstroke) FINAL: A 7th place for Sirhari Nataraj! It was a close one and he finished quite well. In the end he was just 0.25 seconds behind the swimmer who finished third. It’s been a good couple of days for the Indian.

Weightlifting, Women’s 55kg - Final: The snatch event has come to an end and Bindyarani is currently third having lifted 86kgs. Nigeria’s Olarinoye takes the lead with a Games record 92kg lift with Morrow behind with an 89kg lift.

Weightlifting, Women’s 55kg - Final: Bindyarani ends her snatch event with a 86kg third lift to match Morrow. The Englishwoman, though, lifts 89kgs with her second lift

Boxing, Men’s 92kg, Sanjeet vs Ato Leau Plodzicki-Faoagali R16: SANJEET LOOKS STUNNED. He has been declared the loser of this bout by a split decision. And it is a massively close one! 2-2 with four judges, one judge had them tied and had to pick a winner. The Sri Lankan judge went with Ato Leau. The commentators reckon that is actually a fair call given how he fought back.

Boxing, Men’s 92kg, Sanjeet vs Ato Leau Plodzicki-Faoagali R16 Far more defensive play from Sanjeet in R2. Three judges in favour of the Indian but he continues to lead, says Samreen.

Swimming (Men’s 100m backstroke) FINAL: 01.35 AM. Here’s the start list.

Boxing, Men’s 92kg, Sanjeet vs Ato Leau Plodzicki-Faoagali R16: India across the board in the first round. Sanjeet in the lead.

Weightlifting, Women’s 55kg - Final: Bindyarani comes out for her first attempt in snatch and easily lifts 81kgs. Will attempt 84kgs in her next try.

Boxing, Men’s 92kg, Sanjeet vs Ato Leau Plodzicki-Faoagali R16: In the men’s 92kg category R16 encounter, reigning men’s heavyweight Asian Boxing Champion Sanjeet is now taking on 2018 CWG silver medallist Samoa’s Pldozicki-Faoagali, reminds Samreen. The bout is underway.

Weightlifting, Women’s 55kg - Final: Bindyarani is a contender for a medal spot but will need to come up with a big lift in snatch to compete with World Championships silver medalist Adijat Olarinoye for gold. Bindyarani had finished behind the Nigerian at the 2021 World and Commonwealth championships. England’s Fraer Morrow is also expected to challenge for the top spot

Squash, men’s singles: Abhay Singh retd* 0-1 Alan Clyne Abhay Singh retires from this match due to what seemed like a thigh injury. Alan Clyne was leading 11-3, 9-2 when Abhay decided to withdraw from the match

Women’s hockey, Pool A, India 3-1 Wales in Q1: Dilip – Salima nearly makes it four for India! Finds herself in acres of space in the circle and unleashes a powerful reverse shot. It flies just wide but nearly takes out one of her teammates. We are into the final seconds of this one.

Women’s hockey, Pool A, India 3-1 Wales in Q1: Dilip – India doing the sensible thing and slowing the play down just a bit. Cannot allow Wales back into the match and also need to conserve energy for the England game. Savita might just see more of the ball in the last five minutes of the match.

Women’s hockey, Pool A, India 2-1 Wales in Q1: Dilip – Goal and it’s Vandana Katariya sneaking in to score from a penalty corner once again! Monika rips one from a PC and Vandana just about manages to get her stick in front of herself and deflect the ball into goal. 12 minutes to go in the match and India lead 3-1.

Weightlifting, Women’s 55kg - Final: Bindyarani Devi is in action shortly. Here’s how the event looks in terms of listed first weight totals.

Women's 55kg - Final

CGA Name Snatch (kg) Clean & Jerk (kg) Total
NGR Adijat Adenike OLARINOYE 90 110 200
ENG Fraer MORROW 86 108 194
IND Bindyarani Devi SOROKHAIBAM 80 105 185
SOL Jenly Tegu WINI 78 105 183
WAL Catrin Haf JONES 80 100 180
CAN Rachel LEBLANC-BAZINET 77 96 173
MAS Cascandra Engelbert ELLY 73 91 164
SRI Wadumesthreege Chamari M WARNAKULAS 70 90 160
NRU My-Only STEPHEN 68 88 156
JAM Sky Simone- Lea NORRIS 72 83 155
SCO Jodey HUGHES 65 90 155

Women’s hockey, Pool A, India 2-1 Wales in Q1: Dilip – Wales score from their first penalty corner of the match right at the end of the third quarter! Xenna Hughes fires the ball goal ward and it takes a huge deflection off Deep Grace. Savita is diving the other way and the ball is in the goal. Game on!

Hockey: Oh dear. Wales score right at the end of the third quarter! Xenna Hughes fires the ball goalward from a PC and it takes a huge deflection off Deep Grace. Savita is diving the other way and the ball is in the goal.

Hockey update from Dilip: A couple of big save from Roseanne Thomas to keep Wales in the match. Reacts quickly to deny a cheeky attempt from Vandana and then saves from Deep Grace Ekka’s penalty corner. A minute later, she loses her glove palming a powerful shot from Vandana out of her goal. Five minutes left to play in the third quarter.

Squash, Women’s singles, Anahat Singh vs Emily Whitlock, R32: 6-6 in the 4th game and Whitlock i actually trying to slow this down.

Hockey update from Dilip, India lead 2-0 in Q3: Big save from Roseanne Thomas to deny India a third seven minutes into the third quarter. Her counterpart at the other end, Savita Punia, hasn’t had much to do.

Squash, Women’s singles, Anahat Singh vs Emily Whitlock, R32: Superb from young Anahat Singh, she has taken the 3rd game on the back of some solid backhand play

Hockey: India nearly begin the third quarter with a goal! Salima steams in from the right and finds Vandana at the near post. However, her flick flies wide

Samreen Razzaqui on Lovlina Borgohain’s R16 of win: The number of times Bhaskar Bhatt shouted ‘Duur se khel’ or Play from afar, coupled with the comfort and constant motivation her personal coach Sandhya Gurung provided, seemed to have done the trick for Lovlina today. It seemed like a different energy, as compared to the World Championships in May. Hopefully, she carries the momentum now.

Squash (Women’s singles)Anahat Singh vs Emily Whitlock, Round of 32: Anahat has a 6-4 lead in the third game. Can she take a game off Emily?

Squash (Women’s singles)Anahat Singh vs Emily Whitlock, Round of 32: From the glimpses I have had of this match, Anahat is giving a good fight to Emily. Down 2 games though, 3-3 in the third.

Tokyo medallists Mirabai Chanu, Lovlina Borgohain, PV Sindhu all in action in the space of a few hours. That kinda night.

Hockey update from Dilip, India 2-0 Wales at HT: India have played with an intensity that was perhaps missing from their 5-0 win against Ghana yesterday. They have been quicker to get to the loose balls and have hassled and harried the Welsh attackers when out of possession. Lalremsiami, Vandana Katariya and Sharmila Devi needed time but they have settled in nicely now. With England scoring 12 past Ghana, India need to score more in the second half to bulk up their goal difference.

Sindhu up next there

Boxing, women’s 70kg, Lovlina Borgohain vs Ariane Nicholson R16: Correction this is round of 16. Lovlina is on song here, dominating the bout after 2 rounds.

Boxing, women’s 70kg, Lovlina Borgohain vs Ariane Nicholson R32: The Tokyo bronze medallist is in action and she is off to a strong start.

Hockey update from Dilip: And one brings two! Gurjit Kaur converts India’s fourth Penalty Corner to give India a 2-0 lead 13 minutes into the second quarter

Hockey update from Dilip: India take the lead! Good play from Sharmila to drive in from the right and aim for Vandana Katariya at the back post. The ball hits a Welsh defender’s foot and Vandana successfully reviews for a PC. And the India no 16 gets the goal! Gurjit Kaur fires the ball in from the PC and Vandana sneaks in ahead of the Welsh keeper to deflect the ball into the goal!

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 2-3 Malaysia: Defending champions are out in the quarters. Ying Ho comes from behind, twice, in the deciding match of the tie to beat Reeth Tennison 10-12, 11-8, 6-11, 11-9, 11-9.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 2-2 Malaysia: A backhand push goes long. One match point saved by Reeth.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 2-2 Malaysia: Two big errors from Reeth on forehand and backhand. And Reeth is facing two match points!

Squash (Women’s singles)Anahat Singh vs Emily Whitlock, Round of 32: It’s 14-year-old Anahat Singh vs World No 19 Emily Whitlock

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 2-2 Malaysia: 1 point game! 8-7 on Ying’s serve.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 2-2 Malaysia: Reeth plays one of the points of the match but it is slipping away at 4-8, she makes it 5-8... 6-8! STILL IN THIS.

Hockey: What a brilliant goal line clearance from Wales there! From a PC, Monika aims low to the right and beats the keeper. However, Leah Wilkinson is right on the line to deflect the shot behind

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 2-2 Malaysia: Deep breaths. Ying takes a 5-3 lead in the decider.

Women’s hockey, Pool A, India 0-0 Wales End of the first quarter and it’s 0-0. India had better chances but Wales have done well to stay in the match. India are lacking that killer edge in the shooting circle to break the Welsh resistance.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 2-2 Malaysia: Ying Ho is holding the lead at 4-3. There is a timeout.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 2-2 Malaysia: 2 matches all, 2 games all. Ying Ho holds on to win 11-9 to send this tie into the deciding game in the deciding matc

Women’s hockey, Pool A, India 0-0 Wales at the end of Q1

Dilip: Great passing on the counter from India and Lalremsiami lets one fly. The ball looked destined to fly wide but the Welsh keeper wasn’t taking any chances.

Artistic Gymnastics (Women’s Team final and Individual qualification)Pranati Nayak, Ruthuja Natraj, Protistha Samanta were in action a while earlier. This is how the finished across the apparatus. We will wait for the 4th division to end to see who qualifies for any of the finals.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 2-2 Malaysia: So much tension in this match, some superb rallies. 8-8... make that 9-8 and 10-8 for the Malaysian. Game points!

Women’s hockey, Pool A, India 0-0 Wales in Q1: This is a big match for India because of the way this group is shaping up. England won 12-0 vs Ghana and Canada defeated Wales 4-0 last night. India need to win and possibly win big. 10 mins into this one, 0-0. A PC and a superb breakaway not converted by India.

Dilip Unnikrishnan on the hockey match: India have started strongly and could have taken the lead with a penalty corner in the first minute but for a mis-trap. The Indian passing has been quick and crisp but Wales have managed to hang on so far. It is to be seen how long India can play with this level of intensity

Badminton mixed team Group A, India vs Australia: No easing up from the defending champions. Srikanth and Sindhu feature in this one.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 2-2 Malaysia: Superb from Reeth to win six points in a row from a tight start to the third game. She has taken a 2-1 lead and India are one win away!

Hockey and badminton time now. A busy night!

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 2-2 Malaysia: A missed serve by Reeth and Ying Ho takes the 2nd game. Talk about nerves!

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 2-2 Malaysia: A quick timeout. Coach Raman with some advice in Tamil to Reeth, she trails 7-8 in Game 2.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 2-2 Malaysia: First blood, Reeth! She trailed by 4 points as Ying started really well but finds her zone and takes the opening 12-10. What a tense finish we have here.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 2-2 Malaysia: Ho Ying, a Malaysian Games veteran, vs Reeth Tennison now.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 2-2 Malaysia: Manika Batra goes down in straight games against 19-year-old Karen Lyne who has been a thorn in India’s flesh today starting from the doubles match. The defending champions under massive pressure.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 2-1 Malaysia: Manika briefly takes the lead but Karen Lyne has a match point now.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 2-1 Malaysia: Karen calls a timeout now and Manika starts closing in, 7-8 in the third game.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 2-1 Malaysia: A timeout called and Manika is reeling at the moment. Not long after, Karen takes a 7-3 lead.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 2-1 Malaysia: Manika Batra has to dig deep. And then some! The 19-year-old Karen Lyne is putting on a fine show and has taken a 11-6 11-3 lead.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 2-1 Malaysia: BIG WIN as Mirabai was making history. Sreeja Akula puts India in the lead in this tie for the first time, beating Alice Chang 11-6, 11-6, 11-9. Manika Batra up next against Karen Lyne

Some reactions for Mirabai’s gold:

Weightlifting, women’s 49kg final: GOLD MEDAL DONE! After a superb battle between all other weightlifters for 2 medal positions, Mirabai Chanu comes out for her first C&J, lifts 109kg, wins gold. Mirabai vs Mirabai indeed.

Weightlifting, women’s 49kg final: Mirabai in the middle. 109kg.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 1-1 Malaysia: Sreeja Akula did take a while to adjust to Alice Chang’s chopping, but eventually wins the opening game 11-6, says Shahid.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 1-1 Malaysia: Manika Batra wins the last eight points in a row to level this tie after being forced into a decider by Ying Ho. The Indian wins 11-8, 11-5, 8-11, 9-11, 11-3. Now time for the national champion Sreeja Akula to make amends for her defeat against Li Sian Alice Chang in the doubles earlier.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 1-1 Malaysia: India back in it. We were into upset territory. Manika Batra seemed to have the weight of the world on her shoulders. But she started “CHOLE”ing her way back into the front. Superb in the decider. 1-1 for India. Still some ways to go.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 0-1 Malaysia: But she is now “CHOLE”ing her way back into the front. Manika’s class shining through, 9-3 now.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 0-1 Malaysia: You know what they say about pressure doing funny things? Manika Batra seems to have the weight of the world on her shoulders at the moment. Game 4 to Ho Ying and this has the potential to be a massive upset.

Still 0-1 down in the tie, still Manika Batra needs just one more game to make it 1-1 in the match. But this is not looking great for India overall at the moment.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 0-1 Malaysia: Ying Ho reduces the deficit, winning the third game 11-8 to make it 1-2 to Malaysia. Batra is still just a game away from bringing India back into this tie but this is not looking too encouraging for India if their best player is struggling to close the match out.

Cycling, men’s keirin: Both Esow and Ronaldo finished outside the top two in their heats and are through to repechages.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 0-1 Malaysia: Batra is 2-0 up, winning the second game 11-5, without much fuss this time. She’s just a game away from levelling the tie for India.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 0-1 Malaysia: This is certainly not going all that easy for the Indian. But she has 4-6 lead in the second game. Looking a bit ahead, will be nervy for India if this match goes into the final tie with Ying Ho taking on Reeth.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 0-1 Malaysia: A little bit of frustration for Manika Batra but she gets the opening game 11-8. 4 points lost on serve will be a concern for her.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 0-1 Malaysia: India’s highest ranked player, World No 41 Manika Batra will look to level proceedings against Malaysia’s World No 556 Ying Ho. Good news for India is they have two matches of Manika to bank on. Sreeja and Reeth have to deliver.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 0-1 Malaysia: women’s team event: India 0-1 Malaysia The defending champions and 2nd seeds lose the first match of the quarters. Malaysia’s Karen Lyne/Alice Chang beat Reeth Tennison/Sreeja Akula 11-7, 11-6, 5-11, 11-6.

Dilip Unnikrishnan: Mirabai Chanu, take a bow. Sets the Commonwealth Games snatch record with a massive 88kg lift. She had tried to lift 89kgs in Tokyo last year but here she eyes the elusive 90kg mark. Can she do it? Wasn’t meant to be today but the gold is hers to lose now

Weightlifting, women’s 49kg final: Mirabai Chanu misses a humungous 90kg for her third attempt and finishes Snatch with 88kg, the 2nd best is 76kg. That was quite thrilling wasn’t it? A real buzz in the arena it seemed.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 0-0 Malaysia: The Indians pull one back, win the third game 11-5. It’s not over yet. Malaysia are still 2-1 up in the opening match. That timeout did a lot of good for the Indians. But the 4th game is tight, 6-6.

Weightlifting, women’s 49kg final: Mirabai on song.

Dilip Unnikrishnan: 10 of the 11 lifters have finished with their snatch event and the best lift so far is 76kgs. Mirabai Chanu will now attempt to lift 84kgs in her first attempt. And she nails it. A small break. 88kg next. NAILS IT!

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 0-0 Malaysia: Better from the Indian since the timeout and they are into the lead at 5-4 in the third game.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India 0-0 Malaysia: Well, matches are not played as per rankings are they? Reeth/Sreeja in trouble against Karen Lyne/Li Sian Alice Chang who are absolutely pumped up here. The Indians are two games down.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India vs Malaysia: Sreeja Akula/Reeth Tennison are in action, and they have dropped the opening game against Karen Lyne/Li Sian Alice Chang.

Table tennis, women’s team QF, India vs Malaysia: On paper, this should be India’s match. Malaysia finished 2nd in their group behind Australia.

Shahid Judge with a quick preview of what to expect: India should be able to go through to the semifinals, at least on paper. Malaysia’s highest ranked singles player is Li Sian Alice Chang - the World no 331. India’s lowest ranked player is Diya Chitale, 138. The winner plays either England or Wales in the semifinals.

Table tennis, Women’s team quarterfinal, India vs Malaysia: Here’s a look at the match lineups.

Weightlifting, women’s 49kg final: The event is underway. We will wait a while for Mirabai.

Weightlifting, women’s 49kg final: The event is supposed to have started by now but the official site says “getting ready”. Anyway, Mirabai won’t be in action for a while.

Dilip Unnikrishnan: At the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Mirabai Chanu won India’s first gold medal with a stunning display. Four years on in Birmingham, she’s miles ahead of her competition and looks set to win India’s first gold medal in this edition. But this is sport, there are no guarantees. She will want a good start.

Weightlifting, women’s 49kg final: Mirabai Chanu’s listed first weights combined is 25kgs more than the next athlete.

Start list for women's 49kg weighlifting

CGA Name Snatch (kg) Clean & Jerk (kg) Total
IND Chanu Saikhom MIRABAI 80 105 185
MRI Marie Hanitra Roilya RANAIVOSOA 70 90 160
NGR Stella Peter KINGSLEY 70 90 160
PNG Loa Dika TOUA 68 90 158
CAN Hannah KAMINSKI 70 88 158
ENG Noorin GULAM 66 85 151
WAL Hannah Louise POWELL 65 85 150
SRI Mudiyanselage Srimali Samarak DIVIS 63 80 143
SGP Ying Ying CHAN 57 73 130
GHA Winnifred NTUMI 55 72 127
BAN Marjia Akter EKRA 55 70 125

Weightlifting men’s 61kg: Gururaja says, “I want to dedicate this medal to my wife. We got married last year. I have been in camps a lot since, so would like to dedicate this to her.” (Via Sony)

Cycling update via SAI: India’s Meenakshi finished 15th in the Women’s 3000m Individual Pursuit Qualification with time of 3:49.596. In Men’s 4000m Ind. Pursuit - Qualifying, Vishavjeet Singh & Dinesh Kumar finished 18th and 19th with timings 4:36.709 and 4:37.066 respectively.

Table tennis, Women’s Team: Manika Batra & Co will be in action soon. The knockout bracket is here for the women’s team and defending champions India, after topping their group, face Malaysia in QF. Starts at 830 pm.

Squash, Men’s singles R32, Saurav Ghosal 1-0 Shamil Wakeel: Friendly exchange at the end between the two players, good to see, but nothing light-hearted in the way third seed Ghosal dismantled his opponent, winning 11-4, 11-4, 11-6, says Shahid. Just a little bit of scare at the end with a slip that resulted in splits. But seems OK, the veteran.

A quick cricket update from the other group:

Squash, Men’s singles R32, Saurav Ghosal 1-0 Shamil Wakeel: Ghosal takes the first game without much fuss, winning it 11-4

Table tennis men’s team, Group 3, India 3-0 Northern Ireland: An update from a while earlier. NIR’s Owen Catchart fought hard, Harmeet Desai was pushed to the distance here but he came through. 3 out of 3 for Indian men too.

Squash, Men’s singles R32, Saurav Ghosal vs Shamil Wakeel: Now it’s the 35-year-old star from India Saurav Ghosal against World No 529 Shamil Wakeel of Sri Lanka

Shahid Judge: Pretty gritty fight from Meagan Best, but Joshna Chinappa’s experience showed her experience in building points. Moves through to the next round in straight games, but still a hard fought win.

Squash, Women’s singles R32, Joshana Chinappa 3-0 Meagan Best: Few scares for Chinappa, but the World No 17 eventually gets the job down 11-8, 11-9, 12-10 to move through to the next round, says Shahid Judge. The third game was a fun one, and the rallies at the end were quite entertaining.

Squash, Women’s singles R32, Sunayna Sara Kuruvilla 0-3 Aifa Azman: Malaysia’s Aifa Azman is through to the next round with a 11-7, 11-7, 11-7 win over Sunayna Kruvilla of India. The world No 24 was in control from the word go.

Weightlifting, men’s 61kg final: SILVER FOR GURURAJA! After a silver in 2018 (56kg), moving up to 61kg, Gururaja has bagged bronze. A fine battle that was for the third spot. The top two were in a league of their own and it is now two gold medals out of two events for Malaysia.

Squash, Women’s singles R32, Sunayna Sara Kuruvilla vs Aifa Azman: Azman wins the second game 11-7 to take a 2-0 lead in this match.

Squash, Women’s singles R32, Joshana Chinappa vs Meagan Best: Best putting on a decent show, but Chinappa relies on her experience to take the first game 11-8, says Shahid Judge.

Dilip: Gururaja you beauty! Stunning fight between the Indian and Canada’s Youri Simard! Gururaja smashes it with a 151kg lift to finish with a total of 269kgs, one kilo more than Simard. The Canadian gave it all, but finishes 4th.

Weightlifting, men’s 61kg final: SECOND MEDAL FOR INDIA.

144, check. 148 check, 151 check. A total of 269kg for Gururaja and he is assured a medal! Likely to be a bronze.

Weightlifting, men’s 61kg final:

Dilip: What a lift from Simard! Changes his final lift from 148kgs to 149kgs and he crushes it! Massive pressure on Gururaja who has to lift 151kgs to pip Simard for bronze!

Squash, Women’s singles R32, Sunayna Sara Kuruvilla vs Aifa Azman: Aifa, the world No 24 from Malaysia, has started this match stronger. Takes the opening game 11-7

Weightlifting, men’s 61kg final: It’s getting tight for the bronze medal fight.

Dilip Unnikrishnan: Youri Simard lifts 140kgs with his first attempt and that prompts Gururaja to drop his first attempt to 144kgs to fend of the Canadian’s challenge for bronze. He succeeds and the pressure is on Simard now

Squash, Women’s singles R32,, Sunayna Sara Kuruvilla vs Aifa Azman: This match is also underway.

Squash, Women’s singles R32, Joshana Chinappa vs Meagan Best: It’s time for the heavyweights from India, as World No 17 Joshna Chinappa takes on the unranked Meagan Best from Barbados

Weightlifting, men’s 61kg final: Clean & jerk begins. Gururaja has some catching up to do.

Dilip Unnikrishnan: At the World Championships last year, Gururaja lifted 148kgs having failed in his first two attempts at 153kgs. Today he has listed 145kgs for his first attempt, possibly to register himself on the board and ensure a medal before taking risks with his next attempts.

Hockey update: A forced change seems to be in order for India. Sonika is an able replacement, but hopefully the extent is not too severe.

Boxing Men’s 57kg, Mohammed Hussamuddin vs Azomele Dyeyi, R32: The Indian wins 5-0 on points. Into the round of 16.

Samreen: Hussamuddin’s experience comes in handy against the younger South African as he wins by 5-0 on Unanimous Decision.

Weightlifting, men’s 61kg final: Snatch is done.

Dilip Unnikrishnan: Aznil Bidin comes out for his snatch lifts after everyone is done with theirs and absolutely crushes it! Starts with 123kgs and then sets the Games record with a 127kg lift. Goes for a personal best of 130kgs with his third attempt but it isn’t meant to be. The Malaysian goes into the clean and jerk with a six kilo lead over Morea Baru. With 118kgs, Gururaja is fourth behind Canada’s Youri Simard (119kgs)

Weightlifting, men’s 61kg final: Gururaja finishes with a best Snatch of 118kg.

(Correction)

Boxing Men’s 57kg, Mohammed Hussamuddin vs Azomele Dyeyi, R32: Two rounds done here and after a 5-0 in round 1, the Indian leads 20-18 on four cards. One judge has it 18-18 The RSA boxer is doing well but Indian is landing crisper punches.

Weightlifting, men’s 61kg final: Gururaja finishes with a best Snatch of 118kg.

Dilip Unnikrishnan: All the lifters, including Gururaja, are done with their second attempts and we are yet to see Aznil Bidin come out for his first attempt. Shows the gulf in class in the field. The Indian finishes his snatch event with 118kgs after failing to lift 120kgs in his final attempt.

Boxing Men’s 57kg, Mohammed Hussamuddin vs Azomele Dyeyi, Round of 32: The bout is underway.

Table tennis men’s team, Group 3, India 1-0 Northern Ireland: Sharath-Harmeet recover from a brief blip to win the match in four games. Sanil Shetty in action now.

Weightlifting, men’s 61kg final: Gururaja gets his event underway by successfully lifting 115kgs in his first attempt.

Did you know? Gururaja was the man who won India’s first medal in Gold Coast.

All you need to know about Gururaja, India’s first medallist at the Commonwealth Games 2018

Samreen: Not long now before India’s first boxing event of the day begins. Mohammed Hussamuddin vs Amzolele Dyeyi in the 57kg category.

CWG 2022, Boxing: Hussamuddin, wiser and better prepared than in 2018, driven to better his bronze

Cycling, Women’s Sprint - Qualifying: Mayuri Lute and Triyasha Paul finish 20th and 23rd respectively. Top 16 riders qualify for 1/8 Finals.

Badminton mixed team Group A, India 5-0 Sri Lanka: Gayatri-Treesa close things out for India. Close opening game, cruise through the 2nd. Later in the night, the shuttlers will return to face Australia.

Dilip Unnikrishnan: The action continues with Gururaja Poojari in the men’s 61kg event. Malaysia’s Aznil Bidin, who won gold ahead of Gururaja at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships last year, is the favourite for gold. Also keep an eye on Papua New Guinea’s who was a finalist at the Rio and Tokyo Olympics

Table tennis men’s team, Group 3, India 0-0 Northern Ireland: India are in action in their Group 3 third match. Two wins out of two so far, can they close it out with three wins? A tight doubles match to start off. Sharath and Harmeet took the first game 11-3, but the Irish pair are fighting back. 1-1 in games and 3-3 in the third game.

Weightlifting, men’s 61kg final: Here’s a look at the start list for Gururaja’s event that just got underway. Based on total listed first attempts, the Indian is third.

Badminton mixed team Group A, India 4-0 Sri Lanka: Gayatri-Treesa were not at their best and that saw them having to up their game at the end to take the opener vs Thilini HENDAHEWA Vidara Suhasni VIDANAGE 21-18.

Men's 55kg final results

Rank CGA Name Snatch best C&J best Total
1 MAS Bin Kasdan MOHAMAD ANIQ 107 142 (GR) 249
2 IND Sanket Mahadev SARGAR 113 135 248
3 SRI Dilanka Isuru Kumara YODAGE 105 120 225
4 ENG Ben HICKLING 93 119 212
5 BAN Md Ashikur Rahman TAJ 93 118 211
6 SOL Philip MASI 90 107 197
7 MRI Willem Gwendal EMILE 83 103 186
8 SGP David Pingwei MOK 81 100 181
9 BOT Kgotla Alphius N KGASWANE 70 101 171
10 KEN Benjamin Osiemo OCHOMA 65 85 150
DNF UGA Davis NIYOYITA - -

Sanket Sargar FACTFILE

Event: 55kg

Date of Birth: 16/10/2000

Hometown: Sangli, Maharashtra

Training Base: NS NIS Patiala

Coach: Vijay Sharma

Background: Sanket started weightlifting in 2013. Son of a Farmer, passion for weightlifting persists in his family with his sister also in weightlifting. 

Achievement: 

Silver: CWG 2022 (Today)

Gold - Singapore International 2022 - Commonwealth + National Record

Gold - Senior NAtionals Championships 2022, KiIT Bhubaneswar

— Information via Sports Authority of India

Athletics, men’s marathon final: India’s Nitendra Singh Rawat finishes 12th, with 18 athletes registering a time. The Indian’s timing is 2:19:22. Here’s a look at the top 12.

Badminton mixed team Group A, India 4-0 Sri Lanka: A straight-game win for Sumeeth and Chirag too as India head towards another clean sweep. Treesa-Gayatri will be in action now.

Lawn Bowls: India tied with Malta in the men’s triples third round.

FIRST MEDAL FOR INDIA! Sanket Sargar wins silver in the men’s 55kg weightlifting event.

Weightlifting, men’s 55kg final: SILVER MEDAL for Sanket Sargar! He was on course for gold but Malaysia’s Bin Kasdan clinches it with a stunning attempt right at the end.

Weightlifting, men’s 55kg final: Oh dear, Sanket Sargar injures his right elbow it looked while going for his second attempt at 139 kgs. After some consultation, he came out for the third attempt. Still in pain, couldn’t complete that too.

Weightlifting, men’s 55kg final: MEDAL CONFIRMNED! Sanket Sargar easily lifts 135kgs with his first attempt and he has confirmed India’s first medal in Birmingham.

Badminton mixed team Group A, India 3-0 Sri Lanka: Aakarshi Kashyap wins in straight games too and with that, India clinch the tie. A dominant 21-3, 21-9 victory for the 20-year-old. Next up is a men’s doubles match involving Chirag Shetty and B Sumeeth Reddy.

Dilip Unnikrishnan: Weightlifting – Important to note that at the 2021 World Championships, Sanket had failed to lift 139kgs with his first two clean and jerk attempts before trying and failing to lift 140kgs in his final attempt. Sanket had listed 135kgs for his first attempt at Birmingham at the start of the final but it is to be seen if he raises it by a couple of kilos after crushing it with snatch.

Lawn Bowls: India’s Taniya Choudhury has lost her women’s singles third round match 10-21.

Badminton mixed team Group A, India 2-0 Sri Lanka: Aakarshi Kashyap playing with great control. Good mix of drops and lifts to keep Suhasni on the move. Takes the opening game 21-3, as comfortable as it could get. The Sri Lankan however has a 5-2 lead in the 2nd game to start.

Table tennis women’s team, Group 2, India 3-0 Guyana: Reeth Tennison defeats Chelsea Edghill 11-7, 14-12 and 13-11. The Indian trailed on several occasions but managed to hold her nerves. And with that India clinch the Guyana tie. They will be in quarterfinals action later on, we will update the timing and opponent details soon.

Swimming, Men’s 200m Freestyle - Heat 3: Kushagra Rawat finishes 8th in his heat with a timing o 1:54.56. Won’t be progressing to the next stage, 9th overall with 2 heats still to go.

Swimming, Men’s 200m Freestyle - Heat 3: Kushagra Rawat in action here.

Badminton mixed team Group A, India 2-0 Sri Lanka: Solid start from Aakarshi, 11-1 lead in the opener.

(Score corrected)

Badminton mixed team Group A, India 2-0 Sri Lanka: Lakshya Sen off to a winning start in the Commonwealth Games. A tough opener, but breezed through the 2nd against SL’s Niluka Karunaratne. 21-18, 21-5.

Next up, Aakarshi Kashyap, who earned a place in the squad through the selection trials, is now in action. She takes on 19 year old Suhasni.

Dilip Unnikrishnan: Weightlifting – Clean and jerk is Aniq Kasdan’s favoured event but Sanket, with 143kgs, holds the Commonwealth Record. The 107kg lift was not ideal for Kasdan. Should Sanket match his Commonwealth record, Kasdan will have to lift 149kgs, seven kilos more than his Junior Commonwealth record to pip Sanket to gold.

Table tennis women’s team, Group 2, India 2-0 Guyana: A dominant win for Manika Batra. India are now just one more win away from clinching this tie. Next up is Reeth Tennison in singles.

Weightlifting, men’s 55kg final: Make that three for three! Sanket lifts 113 kg in his first attempt.

Dilip Unnikrishnan: Weightlifting – Aniq Kasdan registers 107kgs in his snatch. If Sanket successfully lifts 113kgs, it will be a big lead to take into clean and jerk which is Kasdan’s favoured event. More importantly, it will put more pressure on the Malaysian.

Dilip Unnikrishnan: Weightlifting – And it seems the pressure has gotten to the Malaysian! He fouls out with his second attempt at 111kgs! Sanket has raised his third attempt to 113kgs. Will Aniq match Sanket again? No he won’t. Goes for 111kgs again and he fouls out again!

Dilip Unnikrishnan: Weightlifting –Both Sanket and Aniq successfully lift 107kgs. The Indian has now lifted the weight to 111kgs for his second attempt! Kasdan will go for 109kgs with his second attempt but wait! Kasdan also raises his 2nd attempt to 111kgs. A psychological battle as much as a physical one between the two.

Weightlifting, men’s 55kg final: And now Sanket lifts 111 kgs like a boss. He’s pumped and completely locked in.

Weightlifting, men’s 55kg final: We are now into the medal contenders and Sanket Sargar easily lifts 107kgs with his first attempt.

Dilip Unnikrishnan: Weightlifting – We are now into the medal contenders with Uganda’s David Niyoyita failing with all his attempts at 100kgs. And he is out of the medal contention! Sri Lanka’s Dilankara Yodage will be after Niyoyita with 105kgs with Sanket and Aniq Kasdan to end with 107kgs

Table tennis women’s team, Group 2, India 1-0 Guyana: Nicely done by Sreeja Akula and Reeth Tennison. They win the first match of the tie 11-5, 11-7, 11-7. Manika Batra is up next.

Table tennis women’s team, Group 2, India vs Guyana: Manika Batra and Co are back, taking on Guyana. The defending champions won both matches yesterday as did Guyana. This match will decide the group toppers..

Badminton mixed team Group A, India 1-0 Sri Lanka: Ashwini-Satwik complete a solid 21-14, 21-9 win. They were tested in the first quarter of the match but kept getting better as the match went on. Up next, it’s going to be Lakshya Sen in men’s singles action for the second match of this tie.

Athletics: India’s Nitendra Singh Rawat is in men’s marathon action.

Badminton mixed team Group A, India vs Sri Lanka: Ashwini-Satwik win the first game 21-14. The Sri Lankan pair kept pace till the interval but the Indians started to pull away thereafter.

Weightlifting, men’s 55kg final: Sanket has listed 107kgs for his first attempt in snatch so it will be a while before we see him in action. It will be a very close battle between the Indian and Kasdan in snatch.

Vinayakk: Weightlifting, Men’s 55kg event final: First weightlifter in action for India is Sanket Sargar. Will be a medal contender if he can register good attempts with listed weights. Malaysia’s Bin Kasdan Mohamad Aniq will be one to watch out for, he is the one with listed first weights more than the Indian.

Dilip Unnikrishnan: Weightlifting to begin shortly and 21-year-old Sanket Sargar is in line to win India’s first medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games when he takes part in the men’s 55kg weightlifting final. Malaysia’s Aniq Kasdan is the favourite in the event having won silver at the World Weightlifting Championships last year and also won gold at the 2021 Commonwealth Championships. Both Sargar and Kasdan have lifted 107kgs in snatch but it is clean and jerk where the Malaysian is way ahead of the India having lifted 140kgs compared to Sargar’s 135ksg.

Vinayakk: Satwik-Ashwini were an integral part of the mixed team gold medal in Gold Coast. Now they are back together today, pairing up after a while. India-SL to start shortly with them in action.

Weightlifting: India will be eyeing their first medal as Sanket Mahadev Sargar competes in the men’s 55kg final.

Lawn Bowls Round 3: India’s Taniya Choudhury in women’s singles and the men’s triples team are in action at the moment.

Vinayakk – Badminton, mixed team Group A, India vs Sri Lanka: No surprises to see India shuffling the pack little with two matches to play today. The surprise of a special kind is to see Ashwini-Satwik back together, it’s been a while! The one thing worth noting here is that Sri Lanka defeated Australia last night 3-2, so they are 2nd in the group right now. India would want to avoid any banana peels here. But the strength is good enough to see them through.

Badminton: After a comprehensive win against Pakistan yesterday, defending champions India’s mixed team will face Sri Lanka (1.30 pm) and Australia (11.30 pm) in the Group A today. Here’s the lineup for the tie against SL:

12.45 pm: Hello and welcome to live updates of Indian athletes from day two of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Day one started with some positive results for the Indian contingent across the board, even though there were no medals (there were no high probable medal events scheduled anyway). But things are about to get busier today, with four weightlifting events on the cards and that means almost certainly India’s medal account is about to get ticking.

Follow along for all the updates on this Saturday.

India at CWG 2022, Day 2 schedule: Mirabai Chanu seeks gold, Lovlina Borgohain begins campaign

Screenshots in the blog via CWG 2022 Games results website & Sony LIV