Key updates from Day 8:

  • Wrestling medal updates: Bajrang Punia (65kg) wins back to back CWG Golds. Sakshi Malik (62kg) also tops the podium. Deepak Punia (86kg) follows suit. Anshu Malik (57kg) wins silver. Divya Kakran bagged bronze medal through repechage. Finally, Mohit Grewal too adds bronze as all six Indian wrestlers in action today won medals. 
  • Hockey: Savita Punia & Co produce a brilliant display to take Australia to a shootout but heartbreakingly (and controversially) lost out. To face NZ for bronze.
  • Para table tennis: MEDAL ASSURED. Tokyo Paralympics silver medallist Bhavina Patel has assured a medal in Birmingham too, reaches Women’s singles classes 3-5 final. Two more paddlers in bronze contention.
  • Lawn bowls: MEDAL ASSURED! Indian men’s four team reach final, follow up on women’s fours historic feat.
  • Table tennis: Sharath/Sreeja reach mixed doubles semis but Sathiyan/Manika bow out. Sharath/Sathiyan reach men’s doubles semifinals. Sreeja Akula then reaches the singles semifinals as well stunning world No 52, and had a fine day. Manika’s event goes from bad to worse as she loses in Singles too.
  • Athletics: Indian men’s mixed 4x400m relay team through to final. Hima Das misses out on 200m final by heartbreaking margin.
  • Squash: Saurav/Dipika reach mixed doubles semifinal. 2018 silver medallists Joshna/Dipika are knocked out in quarterfinals.
  • Badminton: No damage done as Indian shuttlers ease through in four disciplines.

Medal tally at the end of August 6

Rank Description G S B Total
1 Australia 50 44 46 140
2 England 47 46 38 131
3 Canada 19 24 24 67
4 New Zealand 17 11 13 41
5 India 9 8 9 26
6 Scotland 8 8 19 35
7 South Africa 7 7 8 22
8 Nigeria 7 3 6 16
9 Wales 4 5 10 19
10 Malaysia 4 4 3 11

Squash Mixed doubles QF: India’s Dipika Pallikal Karthik / Saurav Ghosal vs Australia’s Rachael Grinham / Alexander Zac: A quick update from the Show Court. India win in straight games. Take the second game 11-5 and are through to the semis!

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India 1-1 (0-3) Australia: Heartbreaking Savita Punia interview on Sony. The moment the interviewer said “you must be proud” she broke visibly. That was so hard to watch. “We must move on,” she says. Really wish they can bounce back. Bronze vs NZ on Sunday.

Personal musings: Thinking about Tokyo QF when India were hanging on for so long with everything they had against a rampant Australia side. One year on, two evenly-matched sides went toe to toe (except for the last few seconds) for nearly the full match. Should be proud, everyone associated with the Indian team. I, personally, feel the same pride I felt on that day in Tokyo. (Couple of other emotions too but the overriding feeling is to see how the team have improved since Tokyo. It’s been a tough few weeks for the team but that was superb from the team. They have kept the belief through it all. The toughest part of this now is to bounce back for a bronze medal match against New Zealand on Sunday.

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia (FT 1-1): SHOOTOUT 0-3: A flick past Savita... and soon after Navneet misses too. It’s over. Heartbreak.

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia (FT 1-1): SHOOTOUT 0-2: Nobbs scores.... and now Neha misses, as she took it too wide. India look deflated at the moment. That was good keeping.

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia (FT 1-1): SHOOTOUT 0-1 – WOW. Rubbish, says Viren on Air. The clock wasn’t started and Malone’s miss doesn’t matter now. It’s a retake and Australia score. Madness. Siami was asked to go back and come again and now she misses.

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia (FT 1-1): Australia have brought on the brilliant Bartram for the shootout. Savita of course for India. Here we go, Australia go first.

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia 1-1, FULL TIME: OH WOW! CRAZY FEW SECONDS AT THE END. Savita and her defence withstand stunning pressure from Australia in the final few seconds, the tackles were good too. BUT IT IS SHOOTOUT TIME NOW.

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia 1-1, Q4: INCREDIBLE SAVE(S)! Save-ita doing what she does. Not one but twice. Penalty corner given and wait, it could be a stroke? Umpire referral and not a PS. Just a PC to defend.

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia 1-1, Q4: India have to defend a PC with 62 secs on the clock!

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia 1-1, Q4: Incredible tackle in the midfield by Taylor as Navneet looked to dribble through the centre. We are down to the last 3 mins. Just thinking about the last few mins in Tokyo when India were hanging on to dear life. Ain’t nothing like that today.

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia 1-1, Q4: India keep pushing, win the ball back high and nearly Siami finds a superb pass. Great defence by Australia. Now Australia are back to XI and they are pushing up the pitch.

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia 1-1, Q4: India have another PC soon after scoring. Saved by Power! India are still on the front foot. Australia are also down to 10 briefly and India are pushing. Nobbs on the bench for two mins. Australia now hanging on a bit

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia 1-1, Q4: GOAL INDIA!!! What an assist. VANDANA SCORES! But all about Sushuila. Sushila did the exact same thing vs NZ in the World Cup! A free hit... she feigns a pass to the flank and then hits one straight through the centre. Siami then, Vandana today. Scored. Superb from the former captain!

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia 0-1, Q4: Just outside the reach of Vandana! Navneet with a through ball and it nearly finds her teammate through on goal... oh there was a defensive stick there. Just a while earlier Savita made another save.

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia 0-1, Q4: Just 15 mins left in this match (regular time, at least). SAVIT SAVES! Superb reverse hit on goal, the Indian captain puts the foot out.

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia 0-1, Q3: Incredible tempo to this match. That save by Monika so crucial to keep India interested still. Australia have actually had the better Q. India hang on.

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia 0-1, Q3: India survive those series of PCs (more so because of a mishit drag flick...) Australia have another PC after review. MONIKA ON THE GOAL LINE! What a save on the post. She has kept India in this match.

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia 0-1, Q3: CHANCES AUS! Savita has had to save a couple of times... Sonika got a green card and immediately the pressure has shot up. India have conceded a series of PCs.

Squash Mixed doubles QF: Dipika Pallikal Karthik / Saurav Ghosal in action now against Australia’s Rachael Grinham / Alexander Zac.

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia 0-1, Q3: CHANCE! Navneet Kaur with an absoluetly fantastic cross from deep in the right flank. Finds Siami but the pace on it was too much to control Would have been some assist. Australia too have had chances. What a match this has been though so far.

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia 0-1, Q3: Nearly another goal at the far post by Australia. I think I heard Viren Rasquinha say in one of the previous men’s matches that it is a trait of Aussie hockey Nearly another goal. You’d think, a second Australia goal would be effectively the end of this match.

Aditya Chaturvedi: India haven’t done too badly so far, the goal was conceded due to a lapse in concentration which led to some poor marking in front of goal. In attack, they’ve created a number of chances and earned several penalty corners too but as coach Janneke Schopman suggested in a recent interview, they’ve run out of ideas inside the circle. This is still very much an even contest and could go either way.

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia 0-1, Q3: Right then. Time for the second half. India have attacked Australia more than any team has, evidently. But like every other team, haven’t scored.... and 2v2 situation early for India! Nothing doing. Sharmila dribbled into a tackle.

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia 0-1 at half time: India have created chances but as has often been the case in recent times, they haven’t found the finishing touch. Still trail by just a goal, though. As I said at the start of this blog, last year it was an underdog hanging on to dear life after scoring early against a mighty side. Today, it has been India probing and probing, but unable to find the goal. But once again, India paid the price for conceding from a defensive lapse.

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia 0-1 in Q2: Then back to hockey. Sangita had a superb reverse hit saved by Power. Then India lose their referral. Australia then refer a PC decision, but keep their referral on no advice possible. India miss another PC.

Shahid Judge with a quick table tennis wrap: A very good day at the Commonwealth Games for Achanta Sharath Kamal and Sreeja Akula. Both won both rounds of mixed doubles matches they played and reached the semifinal. Individually, Akula went on to upset the World No 52 Mo Zhang to reach the semifinal in the women’s singles event, and she’s also reached the Round of 16 in women’s doubles with Reeth Tennison. Sharath Kamal meanwhile partnered G Sathiyan and is in the men’s doubles semifinals, and also reached the quarterfinal in the men’s singles event. 

It was a busy day for the Indian contingent, but with some mixed results. Manika Batra, the defending singles champion lost in the quarterfinal to Jian Zeng of Singapore. She and Sathiyan, favourites if you will, also lost in the mixed doubles event. She is however still in the draw for the women’s doubles event along with partner Diya Chitale. 

Table tennis, men’s singles: The day ends with three 4-2 wins for three Indian singles players! Sharath, Sathiyan and Sanil are through to quarterfinals. Three out of eight... good odds.

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia 0-1 in Q2: The PC conversion blues continue. To be fair though that drag flick from Gurjit was powerful, on target, but saved well. Neha did well to win the PC. India have certainly not been overawed by going down early.

Athletics, women’s 200m semifinal: The two times to make the cut for final with “q” were 23.10 & 23.28. Hima Das clocked 23.42 and missed out. 10th best timing overall in the semifinals. Ah!!! (But nice to see her back at a big event and give it a good go. She has the relay still.)

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia 0-1 at the end of Q1: India had circle penetrations and penalty corners but they couldn’t find the back of the net. Australia have the edge heading into the second quarter.

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia 0-1 in Q1: GOAL! Australia get the lead. A lapse in concentration in the Indian defence and the Aussies don’t miss out. The big reason for India’s win in Tokyo was scoring first. Now they have to chase the game.

Athletics, women’s 200m semifinal: OH Hima Das!!! Heartbreakingly close to reaching the final. She misses out on a photo-finish for 2nd spot. And her time of 23.42 will not see her qualify as last two fastest. So close!

Athletics: Hima Das time in the women’s 200m semifinals. Qualification Rules: First 2 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advance to the Final

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia 0-0 in Q1: Australia are slicing through India’s defence far too often tonight. Loose passes from the women in blue. But not yet punished, need to group.

Table tennis, men’s singles: What a marathon day the Indian paddlers have had. And it looks it could end with a couple of heartbreaks perhaps.

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia: And here we go!

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia: A quick recap, because why not.

Play

Squash Men’s doubles Round of 16: Abhay Singh/ Senthilkumar Velavanpair take out the Scottish pair 11-8. The celebrations! Lovely stuff. A big win, defeating 3/4 seeds! India 2-1 Scotland.

Wrestling, FS - 125 kg bronze match Aaron Anthony JOHNSON vs Mohit Grewal: Bronze for Mohit! A cagey bout to start off but the Indian takes it finally by fall.

Wrestling, 68 kg bronze match Divya KAKRAN vs COCKER LEMALIE Tiger Lily: Bronze for Divya! Overcoming her quarterfinal defeat, the Indian took only 26 seconds to win the bronze.

INDIAN WRESTLERS ON DAY 1: Six medals out of six who competed. (Three gold, one silver, two bronze)

Badminton, men’s doubles round of 16: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are through to the men’s doubles quarterfinals with a comfortable win.

Table Tennis Women’s singles QF, Manika Batra 0-4 Jian Zeng: Defending champion is out. IT has been a tough, tough week or so for Manika Batra who broke out at this event four years back. Jian Zeng did not give Batra any room in that match, ending her singles reign 12-10, 11-9, 11-4, 11-7. She has just women’s doubles left now, the Indian.

Hockey, women’s semifinal, India vs Australia: What a day it was in Tokyo when these two met. But worth noting here that India are not that big a underdog anymore, while Australia too are rebuilding. The Hockeyroos will start favourites for sure, but hopefully we get another cracking close game.

Via Hockey India

A reminder that the India-Australia women’s hockey semifinal is still to come!

Table Tennis Women’s singles QF: Manika Batra 0-3 Jian Zeng: Batra getting dismantled, says the commentator as Zeng is starting to turn the screws. The defending champion needs to find her groove soon. Nearly the point of no return for her in singles.

Table Tennis Women’s singles QF: Manika Batra 0-2 Jian Zeng: BIG TROUBLE! Zeng wins four points in a row from 8-10 down to take the opener 12-10. She also wins the second game 11-9. Batra’s in trouble now, trails 0-6 in the third game


Super day for Sreeja Akula. But Manika Batra is in serious danger of returning empty handed from Birmingham. Trailing in women’s singles too now. Needs a big turnaround. (Still has women’s doubles left)

Badminton women’s and men’s R16 Aakarshi Kashyap was dominant even as Lakshya Sen was tested, but both players are through to the quarterfinals. Satwik-Chirag begin their doubles campaign now.

Table Tennis Women’s singles QF, Manika Batra vs Jian Zeng: World No 41 and the defending champion Manika Batra takes on World No 60 from Singapore Jian Zeng. Manika needs this. She really needs this.

Table Tennis Women’s singles QF: Sreeja Akula 4-3 Mo Zhang: COMEBACK COMPLETE! Sreeja Akula trailed throughout this match but came up with a famous 4-3 win, beating Zhang 9-11, 11-4, 6-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-8. The National Champion has had a fine, fine day in Birmingham.

Gold medal for Sakshi Malik: Tears on the podium at Gold Coast 2018. Tears on the podium at Birmingham 2022. Completely different emotions.

Wrestling, FS - 86 kg Final Deepak PUNIA vs Muhammad INAM: GOLD MEDAL FOR DEEPAK! Cagey bout this. But the Indian delivers. The Pakistani two-time champion never actually threatened Deepak’s defence as far as I could tell. Strong performance by Deepak and it is third gold medal of the day for India from the mats.

Table Tennis Women’s singles QF: Sreeja Akula 3-3 Mo Zhang: No change in expression from Sreeja Akula as she wins 11-4 to make it 3-3 after being 3-1 down. Takes it into the decider, says Shahid.

Wrestling, FS - 86 kg Final Deepak PUNIA vs Muhammad INAM: It is a very cagey bout. Just a 2-0 lead for Deepak at the moment, from early in the bout. End of first period.

Meanwhile, more good news from lawn bowls!

Table Tennis Women’s singles QF: Sreeja Akula 2-3 Mo Zhang: Akula is not out of this yet. Wins 11-5 to pull one back.

Wrestling, FS - 86 kg Final Deepak PUNIA vs Muhammad INAM: It’s India-Pakistan time! Deepak takes on 2010 & 2018 gold medallist from Inam.

Badminton update from Aditya: Lakshya Sen and Aakarshi Kashyap are in action at the moment in singles round of 16. Both Indians are in the lead in their first games. Lakshya up 11-3. Aakarshi up 17-2.

Lawn Bowls Men’s Fours semifinals: WOW! Indian men trail by just 2 points after End 14. Not impossible to overhaul. One End left.

Table Tennis Women’s singles QF: Sreeja Akula 1-2 Mo Zhang: Shahid Judge updates. The Indian national champion takes on World No 52 (Corrected) Mo Zhang of Canada. In the first game, the veteran from Vancouver was behind for most of the game but came back to take it 11-9.. But Steady game from Akula to win the second 11-4 and level the match. But Zhang wrestles control in the third game, takes it 11-6

Squash, Women’s doubles QF, Joshna Chinappa/Dipika Pallikal Karthik vs Chan Yiwen/Ainaa Ampandi: A closer contest in the second game but it’s not enough. The Indian pair is knocked out by the Malaysians 11-2, 11-7. The 2018 silver medallists are out. In all the medals being won, this is one that India have lost, I am afraid.

Wrestling:, WW - 62 kg Final Ana Paula GODINEZ GONZALEZ vs Sakshi MALIK: GOLD FOR INDIA! That was superb by Sakshi Malik, a victory by fall when she was trailing. She got on top of Ana Godinez, got a couple of takedown points but didn’t relent till the fall was called.

Wrestling:, WW - 62 kg Final Ana Paula GODINEZ GONZALEZ vs Sakshi MALIK: There is a big task facing Sakshi now, trailing 0-4 at the interval. Both players started off passively but the Canadian took the lead.

Squash, Women’s doubles QF: Joshna Chinappa/Dipika Pallikal Karthik vs Chan Yiwen/Ainaa Ampandi: The Malaysian duo take the first game 11-2. Problems for the 2018 silver medallists.

Table tennis: Here’s the draw for the singles event (women’s)

Wrestling:, WW - 62 kg Final Ana Paula GODINEZ GONZALEZ vs Sakshi MALIK: Time for the third final featuring India, and another India-Canada bout.

Table tennis, Men’s doubles QF: Sanil Shetty/Harmeet Desai 0-3 Clarence Chew/Ethan Poh: That’s the end of Shetty and Desai’s campaign, they lose 10-12, 7-11, 7-11 to the Singaporean pair

Squash Women’s doubles QF: Joshna Chinappa/Dipika Pallikal Karthik vs Chan Yiwen/Ainaa Ampandi: The World Doubles Champions from India take on the Malaysian duo for a spot in the semifinal

Lawn bowls, men’s fours semifinals: After 10 ends, India trail 7-8 here. But they have closed a bigger gap.

Table Tennis Men’s doubles QF: A Sharath Kamal/G Sathiyan 3-0 Tom Jarvis/Sam Walker: The Indians march onto the semifinals with a commanding 11-6, 11-8, 11-4 win

Wresting, FS - 65 kg Final Lachlan Maurice MCNEIL vs Bajrang PUNIA: GOLD MEDAL BAJRANG PUNIA! He had said before CWG that he hopes to put the tough recent times behind and fight like the 2018 Bajrang Punia again. And like 2018, he gets to the CWG gold medal with a 9-2 win. Dominant from the word go. He is back!

Wresting, FS - 65 kg Final Lachlan Maurice MCNEIL vs Bajrang PUNIA: Now, now. Bajrang goes hard for a leg attack but the counter comes from McNeil and he has a takedown. Soon after, Bajrang gets a 2-point throw for 6-2.

Wresting, FS - 65 kg Final Lachlan Maurice MCNEIL vs Bajrang PUNIA: Not the easiest bout for Bajrang but he’s not getting challenged either. A passivity point, one takedown and then a 4-0 lead at the break. If CAN comes at him, Bajrang will counter now.

Wresting, FS - 65 kg Final Lachlan Maurice MCNEIL vs Bajrang PUNIA: Now on mat, Bajrang Punia. “Jeetega bhai” chants of course.

Table Tennis Men’s doubles QF: A Sharath Kamal/G Sathiyan vs Tom Jarvis/Sam Walker: A strong Indian team takes on the duo from England. Sharath has been a machine today.

Wresting, FS - 65 kg Final Lachlan Maurice MCNEIL vs Bajrang PUNIA: Next up will be the big man himself. He has been imperious so far, as expected.

Table Tennis Women’s doubles R32: Sreeja Akula/Reeth Tennison 3-0 Lucy Elliott/Rebecca Plaistow: Quick work from the Indians, they win 11-4, 11-5, 11-2

Wrestling, WW - 57 kg Final Anshu vs Odunayo Folasade ADEKUOROYE (NGR): It turned into an absolute thriller at the end. ADEKUOROYE defended too much, opened herself to attacks, conceded points by passivity and stepping out. But she wins 6-4... India challenge it, they lose the appeal. Nigerian completes a CWG hat-trick. Anshu devastated. SILVER MEDAL FOR ANSHU MALIK.

Wrestling, WW - 57 kg Final Anshu vs Odunayo Folasade ADEKUOROYE (NGR): A minute and a half left and Anshu has barely had any scoring chance. 0-4.

Wrestling, WW - 57 kg Final Anshu vs Odunayo Folasade ADEKUOROYE (NGR): Anshu concedes the first points of the bout and she has to fight back now... the very lanky Nigerian has held strongly in defence yet. Anshu is trying hard to find a gap but nothing doing. With second left in the period, NGR get 2 more with a leg attack! Problems for Anshu. 0-4 down at the interval.

Wrestling, WW - 57 kg Final Anshu vs Odunayo Folasade ADEKUOROYE (NGR): First final is Anshu Malik’s. The Tokyo Olympian has been a revelation in recent times.

Table Tennis Women’s doubles R32: Sreeja Akula/Reeth Tennison 1-0 Lucy Elliott/Rebecca Plaistow: The Indians win the first game 11-4.

Right then, we go to wrestling mode!

Order of medal bouts

Table tennis, Mixed doubles QF: A Sharath Kamal/Sreeja Akula 3-2 Liam Pitchford/Tin-tin Ho: THE INDIANS HAVE DONE IT! (At least one of the pairs). Sreeja/Sharath are through to the semifinal after a 11-7, 8-11, 11-8, 11-13, 11-9 win. What a brilliant match this was.

Check out the stats from both these matches:

Table Tennis Mixed doubles QF: G Sathiyan/Manika Batra 2-3 Javen Choong/Karen Lyne: The 2018 bronze medallists are out! Disappointment for the Indians. Sathiyan saves one match point but not to be. Malaysia have done it. They beat the World No 6 team 12-10, 9-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7. Karen Lyne has proved to be a thorn in India’s flesh

Table Tennis Mixed doubles QF: A Sharath Kamal/Sreeja Akula 2-2 Liam Pitchford/Tin-tin Ho: Wow, ENG lead briefly but IND come back to take 9-8 lead. But it is 9-9 now.

Table Tennis Mixed doubles QF: G Sathiyan/Manika Batra 2-2 Javen Choong/Karen Lyne: Perhaps not done yet. 6-9, the Indians make it.

Table Tennis Mixed doubles QF: A Sharath Kamal/Sreeja Akula 2-2 Liam Pitchford/Tin-tin Ho: We go to the change of ends with a small lead for Indians. But ENG keep closing the gap. 5-7.

Table Tennis Mixed doubles QF: G Sathiyan/Manika Batra 2-2 Javen Choong/Karen Lyne: Perhaps this is done. 8-2 for the MAS pair.

Table Tennis Mixed doubles QF: A Sharath Kamal/Sreeja Akula 2-2 Liam Pitchford/Tin-tin Ho: What rallies in this one! Both pairs with a stunning rally, that goes Sharath’s way. But 4-4.

Table Tennis Mixed doubles QF: G Sathiyan/Manika Batra 2-2 Javen Choong/Karen Lyne: Problems here. 5-1 lead for the MAS pair.

Table Tennis Mixed doubles QF: A Sharath Kamal/Sreeja Akula 2-2 Liam Pitchford/Tin-tin Ho: We are into the decider here as well! Madness. A 2-1 lead for Indians early on.

Table Tennis Mixed doubles QF: G Sathiyan/Manika Batra 2-2 Javen Choong/Karen Lyne: MAS have game points, 10-6. They take it 11-7. Into the decider.

Table Tennis Mixed doubles QF: A Sharath Kamal/Sreeja Akula 2-1 Liam Pitchford/Tin-tin Ho: The Indians’ match point is gone, ENG have a game point but that is saved by Indians. 11-11!

Table Tennis Mixed doubles QF: G Sathiyan/Manika Batra 2-1 Javen Choong/Karen Lyne: MAS pair into the lead 9-6.

Table Tennis Mixed doubles QF: A Sharath Kamal/Sreeja Akula 2-1 Liam Pitchford/Tin-tin Ho: The Indians have a match point 10-9.

Table Tennis Mixed doubles QF: G Sathiyan/Manika Batra 2-1 Javen Choong/Karen Lyne: Top seeds were off to a good start in this game but we are 5-5.

Table Tennis Mixed doubles QF: A Sharath Kamal/Sreeja Akula 2-1 Liam Pitchford/Tin-tin Ho: The English timeout seems to have helped. They have closed to 7-7 too.

Symmetry.

Shahid Judge getting a little ahead of himself but we will entertain him: Just a reminder, both Indian teams are in opposite halves of the draw, so they can only meet in the final or the bronze medal playoff should both win their matches tonight.

A timeout for the English pair with Sharath/Sreeja leading 4-2 in game 4.

Table Tennis Mixed doubles QF: G Sathiyan/Manika Batra 2-1 Javen Choong/Karen Lyne: When you thought the top seeds will close this game out, MAS come back from 6-9 to 8-9. But the Indians recover and take the lead.

Table Tennis Mixed doubles QF: A Sharath Kamal/Sreeja Akula 2-1 Liam Pitchford/Tin-tin Ho: The cheering of Sharath for Sreeja is a delight here. Nice to see this. Sharath and Sreeja win the third game 11-8, need just one more to go through to the semifinals

Table Tennis Mixed doubles QF: G Sathiyan/Manika Batra 1-1 Javen Choong/Karen Lyne: What a battle this is going to be. 1-1 on games, 4-4 in the third.

Table Tennis Mixed doubles QF: A Sharath Kamal/Sreeja Akula 1-1 Liam Pitchford/Tin-tin Ho: The Indians went ahead in the third but Ho/Pitchford are fighting back to 6-7 and India call a timeout.

Table Tennis Mixed doubles QF: G Sathiyan/Manika Batra vs Javen Choong/Karen Lyne: Great response from Manika and Sathiyan. They trailed in the 2nd game too, took a timeout and then dominated towards the end. Sathiyan letting his opponents know India are very much in this.

Table Tennis Mixed doubles QF: A Sharath Kamal/Sreeja Akula vs Liam Pitchford/Tin-tin Ho: Solid response from the home team, win the second 11-8 to level the match

Table Tennis Mixed doubles QF: G Sathiyan/Manika Batra vs Javen Choong/Karen Lyne: The Malaysians draw first blood, win the game 12-10. The top seeds are in trouble here. Dowan a game and 0-4 in the 2nd. Timeout called.

Table Tennis Mixed doubles QF: A Sharath Kamal/Sreeja Akula vs Liam Pitchford/Tin-tin Ho: Good hold from the Indians, taking the opener 11-7

Shahid Judge sets up the TT action: It’s the men’s and women’s singles national champions from India, Achanta Sharath Kamal and Sreeja Akula respectively, paired up in the quarterfinal against the the England team of Liam Pitchford and Tin-tin Ho, the silver medallists from Glasgow 2014 and Gold Coast 2018. Meanwhile on Table 5, World No 6 mixed doubles pair of Manika Batra and G Sathiyan take on the Malaysian pair of Javen Choong and Karen Lyne. Lyne, just a few days ago, beat Batra in straight sets to help the Malaysians deny the Indians a successful women’s team title defence. She’s sure to be a handful again today.

Shahid Judge chips in...

Table Tennis Mixed doubles QF: G Sathiyan/Manika Batra vs Javen Choong/Karen Lyne: The top seeds come up against the duo from Malaysia for a spot in the semifinal

Table Tennis Mixed doubles QF: A Sharath Kamal/Sreeja Akula vs Liam Pitchford/Tin-tin Ho: The Indians here come up against the home-hopes form England

Wrestling, WW - 68 kg Repechage Blandine Nyeh NGIRI 0-4 (VFA) Divya KAKRAN: Victory by fall for Divya Kakran and she enters bronze medal bout through repechage. Quick recovery after a brutal defeat against Nigeria.

So all six Indian wrestlers still in contention for medals today.

Wrestling, FS - 86 kg 1/2 Final Deepak PUNIA 3-1 Alexander MOORE: INTO THE FINAL! A super tight semis, Deepak managed to get one takedown early in second period and held on.

Wrestling, FS - 125 kg1/2 Final Mohit MOHIT 2-12 Amarveer DHESI: Mohit into bronze medal contention. He got injured it seemed on his ankle but Dhesi was dominating anyway.

Wrestling, FS - 125 kg1/2 Final Mohit MOHIT vs Amarveer DHESI: Now Mohit on mat too. Another IND-CAN battle won’t be easy. Mohit takes a 2-0 lead early but it is 2-2 not long after.

Wrestling, FS - 86 kg 1/2 Final Deepak PUNIA 1-0 Alexander MOORE: Just one passivity point in the opening round. Deepak can be explosive at the end though but Moore is looking strong.

Wrestling semifinals: Now Deepak Punia in action. Against Moore from Canada. This won’t be quite as easy.

Wrestling, WW - 57 kg 1/2 Final Anshu MALIK 10-0 Nethmi Ahinsa Fernando PORUTHOTAGE:

Wrestling, WW - 62 kg 1/2 Final Berthe Emilienne ETANE NGOLLE 0-10 Sakshi MALIK:

Wrestling, FS - 65 kg1/2 Final George Anthony RAMM 0-10 Bajrang PUNIA

Wrestling: Anshu Malik and Sakshi Malik will be in action at the same time in their respective semifinal bouts. Anshu is up against Nethmi Poruthotage while Sakshi takes on Berthe Etane Ngolle

Wrestling: Don’t go anywhere. The semifinals are about to start as well...

Wrestling, FS - 86 kg 1/4 Deepak PUNIA vs Sheku KASSEGBAMA: One minute in and Deepak is up 6-0! Needs just another 33 seconds to wrap up the match and win by technical superiority.

Badminton women’s singles R16: PV Sindhu cruises into the quarterfinals with a 21-10, 21-9 victory against world No 234 Husina Kobugabe of Uganda. Another comfortable workout for the Indian star.

Wrestling, WW - 68 kg 1/4 Final Divya KAKRAN vs Blessing OBORUDUDU: That’s all for Diya in her quest for gold. The first defeat for an Indian wrestler today. And one by tech superiority too. That’s got to sting her even though losing to Nigerian opponent is not the worst of results. Divya will have to hope for repechage.

Lawn bowls, men’s fours quarterfinal: The Indian men are into the semifinals! Trailed 3-7, won 14-10.

Wrestling, WW - 68 kg 1/4 Final Divya KAKRAN vs Blessing OBORUDUDU: Tremendous pressure on Divya now. Trailed 0-3 in the first period and looked to attack but got countered at the end. The Nigerian has a 5-0 lead at the end of the first round.

Wrestling, WW - 68 kg 1/4 Final Divya KAKRAN vs Blessing OBORUDUDU: This could be a tricky one. The first big test potentially for an Indian wrestler.

Wrestling, FS - 65 kg 1/4 Final Bajrang vs Jean Guyliane Joris BANDOU: The favourite is back. Should be quick this you imagine.... and indeed before I could type this out, he wins by fall. In a minute.

Wrestling, FS - 125 kg, 1/4 Final Mohit vs Alexios KAOUSLIDIS: Mohit got to 10 points but couldn’t get the tech. superiority win. 10-1 is not bad though. Into the semifinals.

Badminton women’s singles R16: Sindhu takes the first game 21-10, after a few errors from her allowed Husina to get to double digits. This should be a straight-games win for the Indian, who’s playing well within herself.

Wrestling, FS - 125 kg, 1/4 Final Mohit vs Alexios KAOUSLIDIS: Mohit Grewal is now in action against Alexios Kaouslidis in the men’s 125kg quarterfinal. The higher weights can usually be tigheter. Mohit trails early after conceding a passivity point. But comes back with two takedowns. Leads 4-1 after first period.

Wrestling, WW - 62 kg 1/4 Final Sakshi MALIK vs Kelsey BARNES: Just over one minute, Sakshi Malik storms into the semis with another technical superiority win for an Indian wrestler today. She will be so keen to make amends for 2018, when she was in tears after a bronze.

Badminton women’s singles R16: PV Sindhu time! The Indian star is up against Uganda’s Husina Kobugabe, ranked no 234 in the world.

Wrestling, WW - 62 kg 1/4 Final Sakshi MALIK vs Kelsey BARNES: This will start in a little bit.

Wrestling, WW - 57 kg 1/4 Final, Anshu vs Irene SYMEONIDIS: Anshu into the semifinals in no time. A win by technical superiority.

Wrestling, WW - 57 kg 1/4 Final, Anshu vs Irene SYMEONIDIS: Anshu Malik will begin her begin her campaign in the women’s 57kg event. The 2021 World Championships silver medalist will take on Australia’s Irene Symeonidis in the quarterfinal

Table Tennis Men’s singles R32: Big fist bump from Sathiyan as he takes the third game 12-10. He was pushed there. Needs just one more to go to R16. Elsewhere, Sanil Shetty is through to the Round of 16 after a 12-10, 14-12, 11-4, 11-5 win over Derek Abrefa of Ghana.

Table Tennis Men’s singles R32: Rather tight match on Court 7, but Sanil Shetty leads 12-10, 14-12. Sathiyan however is starting to impose himself. Up by 2 games and 4-3 in the third.

Lawn bowls, men’s fours quarterfinal: The Indian men are into the lead now against Canada. Good Ends 9, 10 and 11.

Table Tennis Men’s singles R32, G Sathiyan 1-0 Paul McCreery: Bit of a shaky start for Sathiyan, but he recovers from being 2-6 down to win the first game 11-9. And leads 8-2 in the second.

Away from CWG, a quick update from Athletics Federation of India: AFI and its affiliated units are all set to celebrate National Javelin Day across the country on Sunday to commemorate one of the greatest moments in India’s sporting history, Neeraj Chopra’s Olympic Games gold medal. It was on August 7 last year that Neeraj produced the 87.58m effort in Tokyo to earn India’s first track and field medal in the Olympic Games. The decision to celebrate August 7 as the National Javelin Day was made by AFI upon Neeraj Chopra’s return from Tokyo. He has now added a World Championships Silver last month. “Apart from celebrating Neeraj’s feat, AFI will also promote the sport at the grassroots level through this initiative,” AFI President Adille J. Sumariwalla said.

Wrestling action resumes, buckle up everyone.

Badminton men’s singles R16: Srikanth Kidambi is through to the quarterfinals with a 21-9, 21-12 win against Sri Lanka’s Dumindu Abeywickrama. Plenty of skill on display as always by the Indian, updates our man Aditya, who has a soft spot for Srikanth’s attacking badminton.

Table Tennis Men’s singles R32: Sanil Shetty vs Derek Abrefa The southpaw from India goes up against the World No 373 from Ghana

Lawn bowls, men’s fours quarterfinal: Indian men are fighting back against Canada, three points in End 8 to make it 6-7

Table Tennis Men’s singles R32, Achanta Sharath Kamal 4-0 Finn Luu: Good solid win for Sharath Kamal, beating the Australian youngster 12-10, 11-8, 11-7, 11-6. The veteran has played three matches already today and has come through all of them across categories.

[Replug] : Table Tennis: Achanta Sharath Kamal works more off the table to excel on it

Badminton, Men’s Singles - R16 Srikanth KIDAMBI 1-0 Dumindu ABEYWICKRAMA: Srikanth not having much trouble in this one so far. Leading 6-4 in the 2nd game.

Update from UWW: Wrestlers warming up, action should resume at 6.00 pm IST

Table tennis, Men’s singles R32, Achanta Sharath Kamal 2-0 Finn Luu Sharath Kamal wins the first game 12-10. Had to save two game points against the 17-year-old who has been impressive with his backhand down the line. In the 2nd game, big backhand from Sharath to get into the lead in this second game before taking it 11-8. This is a proper test though.

In badminton, Srikanth also in action now. We are still waiting to waiting to hear anything on wrestling restart.

Table Tennis Men’s singles R32: Sharath Kamal, fourth seed of the event, will start off his campaign in singles now. Sanil and Sathiyan to follow in a bit.

Table Tennis Men’s doubles R16, Harmeet Desai/Sanil Shetty 3-1 Dillon Chambers Xin Yan: A little while earlier, another pair of Indians are through to the quarterfinals, winning 11-3, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7.

Here’s a quick TT recap, more matches to come later on: (Only Reeth Tennison lost, wins in other matches).

Athletics, Women’s long jump qualifying: Ancy Sojan misses out! Oh, how cruel. She was pushed from 12th to 13th at the very end there.

Lawn bowls, men’s fours quarterfinal is underway: Can Dinesh & Co do what Rupa & Co managed to? They are trailing now 1-3 after End 3.

Athletics, Women’s long jump qualifying: Looks like there might be heartbreak for Ancy Sojan, she was 12th in the standings, but might have been pushed to 13th. Just waiting for confirmation.

Table Tennis Women’s doubles R32 Manika Batra/Diya Chitale 3-0 Rheann Chung/Catherine Spicer: The Indians make a winning start to their doubles campaign, coming up with a straight forward 11-5, 11-7, 11-2 win

Table tennis, Women’s doubles R32, Manika Batra/Diya Chitale vs Rheann Chung/Catherine Spicer: India against Trinidad and Tobago for a chance to make it through to the Round of 16

Badminton, Women’s Doubles R16, Treesa Jolly / Gayatri Gopichand - Jemimah LEUNG FOR SANG / MUNGRAH Ganesha: Gayatri-Treesa waste little time in reaching the quarterfinals. They have a good route to semis.

Athletics: Women’s long jump qualifying is underway, updates on Ancy Sojan coming up. Qualification Rules: Qualifying performance 6.75 (Q) or at least 12 best performers (q) advance to the Final. Ancy Sojan started off with 6.17, 6.25.

Athletics Men’s 4x400m relay: India are through to the final. The team of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Noah Nirmal Tom, Muhammed Ajmal, Amoj Jacob. Finished 2nd in heat with 3:06.97 and sixth overall.

Athletics Men’s 4x400m relay heats are underway: Indians are in action in this heat.

Qualification Rules: First 3 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advance to the Final.


Table Tennis women’s singles R16: Sreeja Akula 4-3 Charlotte Carey. What a super win! Akula chased through most of the match, saved match points and converted her own to go through to the QF. She won 8-11, 11-7, 12-14, 9-11, 11-4, 15-13, 12-10. Fine performance by the national champion.

Table tennis, women’s singles, R16: It’s 9-9 in the decider! Can Sreeja pull this off?

Table tennis, women’s singles, R16: Sreeja Akula 3-3 Charlotte Carey Akula saves multiple match points to win 15-13 and take this to the decider, updates Shahid!

Time for some badminton now.

Badminton, Women’s Doubles R16, Treesa Jolly / Gayatri Gopichand - Jemimah LEUNG FOR SANG / MUNGRAH Ganesha: The young Indian pairing begin their WD campaign.

Table tennis, Men’s doubles R16: A Sharath Kamal/G Sathiyan vs Ramhimlian Bawm/Mohutasin Ridoy: The Indians win the opener 11-6

Table tennis, women’s singles, Men’s doubles R16: A Sharath Kamal/G Sathiyan vs Ramhimlian Bawm/Mohutasin Ridoy: The heavyweights from India combine to take on the pair from Bangladesh

Table tennis, women’s singles: The defending champion Manika Batra is through to the quarterfinal with a 11-4, 11-8, 11-6, 12-10 win. The national champion Sreeja Akula is fighting back!

Table tennis, women’s singles: The defending champion is through to the quarterfinals. 4-0 win for Manika Batra. Sreeja and Reeth are battling hard to stay in their round of 16 matches, both trailing.

Table tennis: Manika Batra is leading 11-4, 11-8, 11-6 over Minhyung Jee. Reeth Tennison, meanwhile, has pulled one back winning the third game 11-9

Lawn Bowls: Meanwhile, end of the campaign for the gold medallists from women’s four. In women’s pairs, India lose against England 14-18 in the quaters.

Table tennis: Sreeja Akula has levelled the scores in her match against Wales Charlotte Carey winning the second game 11-7.

Table tennis: Three Indians are in action in the women’s singles round of 16. Manika Batra has won the first two games in her match while Reeth Tennison trails 0-2 and Sreeja Akula trails 0-1 in their respective matches

Wrestling, Men’s Freestyle 86 kg - 1/8 Final Matthew OXENHAM vs Deepak PUNIA: A win by technical superiority for the supremely talented Deepak. He too is in quarterfinals.

Athletics Women’s 100m hurdles heats: Jyothi Yarraji is 10th overall after all Heats are done. Needed to run that sub-13 race today (something her coach believes she is capable of soon) to reach the final. But 13.18 is still solid.

Para Table Tennis: Dilip – It won’t be India vs India in the women’s classes 3-5 event after all! Sonal Patel loses to Christiana Ikpeoyi 11-8, 6-11, 4-11, 7-11 in the semifinal On Saturday, Bhavina Patel will take on Ikpeoyi in the final while Sonal Patel will face Sue Bailey in the bronze medal match

Men’s Freestyle 65 kg - 1/8 Final, Lowe BINGHAM vs Bajrang PUNIA: And it is a quick win by fall for returning gold medallist from 2018 Bajrang Punia. He moves into quarterfinals.

Para table tennis: Christiana Ikpeoyi has taken the third game 11-4 and Sonalben has to win the next game to stay in the semifinal. The all-Indian final is slipping away a bit here.

Athletics Women’s 100m hurdles heats: Jyothi Yarraji runs a really solid 13.18 (+2.0 wind, so will be counted). Will be one of her top 5 official timings, if I am not mistaken. But not going to be enough for the final. She however continues to impress with her timings! That is once again better than the national record that was in place before this season began that she has since broken.

Para table tennis: A little while earlier. Despite winning the first game, Raj Alagar has lost in the men’s Para TT men’s classes 3-5 event losing to Nasiru Sule 7-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-7. He will play Nigeria’s Isau Ogunkunle for bronze

Para table tennis: It is neck and neck in the second women’s classes 3-5 semifinal between Sonalben Patel and Christiana Ikpeoyi. The Indian took the first game 11-8 while the Nigerian won the second 11-6

Athletics Women’s 100m hurdles heats: Qualification Rules: First 2 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advance to the Final. One heat done. Wind heavy conditions.

Dilip: Nasiru Sule has responded very well to losing the first game against Algar and has also won the third game 11-4 to lead 2-1 in the best-of-five men’s semifinal

Athletics Women’s 100m hurdles heats are underway:

Lawn bowls, women’s pairs QF, India vs England: India’s Saikia & Choubey are fighting hard. Trail 12-14 after End 15. There are 18 ends in this one.

Para table tennis: Bhavina Patel had to whether a strong start from Sue Bailey but wins the second game 11-6. In the men’s semi, Nasiru Sule has levelled the match against Raj Alagar taking the second game 11-8

Dilip Unnikrishnan will be helping us keep up with the multisport of madness: Raj Alagar and Bhavina Patel in control in their respective semifinals. Alagar takes the first game 11-7 while Bhavina Patel has won her opener 11-6.

Para table tennis: Three Indians are in semifinals across two divisions, with Bhavina and Sonal potentially heading for an all-Indian final. Bhavina and Raj have taken a lead in their matches.

Table tennis, mixed doubles round of 16: Here’s how the mixed doubles draw looks in mixed doubles, quarterfinals coming up at 830 pm tonight.

Table tennis, mixed doubles round of 16: Sharath/Sreeja, the pair of recently crowned national champions, are also through to the quarterfinals. Let’s quickly check the draw now shall we?

Table tennis, mixed doubles round of 16: Manika/Sathiyan, 2018 bronze medallists and among favourites this time, are through to the quarterfinals with a 11-7, 11-6, 11-7 win against the Nigerian pair.

Table tennis, mixed doubles round of 16: Sathiyan/Manika in control but Sharath/Sreeja are having to fight back from a game down.

Table tennis: Live action underway on the tables.

Wrestling: The stacked entry list includes 14 returning medalists – five of which are looking for back-to-back Commonwealth Games golds, and two of them are Indians: Vinesh & Bajrang.

CWG 2022, Wrestling preview: Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat headline a lineup of stars in action

Sreeshankar in an interview to Sony Sports: Been waiting a medal for a long time for this. And would like to thank my coach father and family, and AFI, SAI, TOPS for all the backing despite my performance in Tokyo. (We will try and get the video, a lovely interview).

Cricket: After New Zealand’s defeat against England, this is how the semifinals line up looks

Hockey: Women’s semifinal (later tonight) is India vs Australia, men’s semifinal tomorrow is India vs South Africa, after a stunning win for RSA against New Zealand.

Lawn bowls, women’s pairs QF, India vs England: India’s Saikia & Choubey are leading 5-2 here after End 4.

Lawn bowls, women’s pairs QF, India vs England: Couple of gold medallists in action here again, taking on hosts.

Hello and welcome to live updates of Indian athletes from day eight of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

It was late night madness in Birmingham for the Indian contingent as Sudhir won a gold in men’s Para Powerlifting few minutes after M Sreeshankar clinched the silver medal in the long jump event, the men’s hockey team reached the semifinals, and the boxers continued to shine as Indian athletes had another good outing in Birmingham on Day 7.

On Day 8, wrestling action will finally begin with six medals at stake. In hockey, the Indian women’s team is set to face Australia in the semifinals in a highly-anticipated rematch of the Tokyo Olympics. There is plenty of more action to look forward to in badminton, athletics, squash, table tennis, lawn bowls, and more.

CWG 2022, Day 8 schedule: Women’s hockey SF vs AUS, wrestlers set to increase medal tally

Key updates of Indian athletes from Day 7:

  • Para powerlifting: GOLD! India’s Sudhir takes the top spot in the men’s heavyweight event, in what was the last event of the day (late at night).
  • Athletics: SILVER! M Sreeshankar wins a historic silver medal. Becomes the first Indian to win a silver medal in the men’s long jump event in CWG history.
  • Boxing: Medals assured! Amit Panghal qualifies for semifinals of men’s 51kg event with a dominant performance. Jaismine follows suit by defeating the 2018 bronze medallist from New Zealand, 4-1 decision. Sagar reaches men’s +92kg semis and Rohit Tokas reaches 67kg semis to comfirm India’s seventh medal in boxing. 
  • Men’s Hockey: India beat Wales 4-1 and reach semifinals as group toppers, to face South Africa next. England finish second, to face Australia next.
  • Badminton: PV Sindhu, Srikanth Kidambi and Lakshya Sen reach round of 16 in individual events with comfortable wins. Ashwini-Sumeeth lose in XD opener, end of campaign.
  • Athletics: Hima Das wins her 200m heat with a time of 23.42s and qualifies for semifinals.
  • Table Tennis: Manika Batra begins her individual singles title defence with a straight-games win. Men’s doubles pairs of Sanil Shetty-Harmeet Desai and Sharath Kamal-G Sathiyan also advance, as do Sathiyan-Manika in mixed doubles.
  • Squash: Top seeds Dipika/Saurav enter quarterfinals. Joshna/Harinder bow out in XD round of 16. Anahat/Sunayna lose in R16. Abhay/Velavan progress in doubles. Dipika/Joshna reach quarters in WD.

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