CWG 2018: Jitu Rai shoots gold, India sweep TT team event
In the men's skeet finals, Smit Singh finished a disappointing sixth after managing to shoot 15 out of the first 20 shots.
Gold Coast: Jitu Rai underlined his status as one of India’s premier shooters by winning the 10m air pistol gold medal before Mehuli Ghosh settled for the women’s 10m air rifle silver in a shoot-off with a perfect final shot of 10.9 in the Commonwealth Games on Monday.
World Championship silver medallist Rai shattered the Games record in the finals with a score of 235.1 to comfortably finish on top, compatriot Om Prakash Mitharval giving him company on the podium with a bronze medal.
Defending champion Apurvi Chandela added a bronze to India’s, tally finishing third in the women’s air rifle finals with 225.3.
The air rifle finals witnessed an exciting a climax as Ghosh, 17, ensured a shoot-off with Singapore’s Martina Lindsay Veloso, the eventual gold medallist.
Both Veloso and Ghosh shot a Games record 247.2 before the Singaporean had a 10.3 in the shoot-off against Mehuli’s 9.9.
In the men’s skeet finals, Smit Singh finished a disappointing sixth after managing to shoot 15 out of the first 20 shots.
India swept the table tennis team events of the CWG as the men matched the women to seal a memorable gold with an emphatic 3-0 win over Nigeria in their final, the first time India have won both team titles. After Manika Batra fired India to a historic triumph over Singapore on Sunday, Sharath Kamal led the men past the city state 3-2 in the semi-finals.
The final against Nigeria was straight forward for the men as compared to the semifinal against Singapore, against whom they had to work much harder.
Kamal, who has four CWG gold medals to his name now, set the ball rolling by beating Bode Abiodun in the opening singles 4-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-9.
G. Sathiyan too fumbled in the first game but bounced back to outplay 2002 CWG singles gold medallist Segun Toriola 10-12, 11-3, 11-3, 11-4.
The 46th-ranked Sathiyan then teamed up with Harmeet Desai to defeat Abiodun and Olajide Omotayo 11-8, 11-5, 11-3 and complete a memorable triumph.
More lifting metal
Weightlifter Pardeep Singh (105kg) came agonisingly close to a gold but eventually settled for a silver after a close contest with Samoa’s Sanele Mao on Sunday.
Singh, the reigning Commonwealth Championships gold medallist, lifted a total of 352kg (152kg+200kg) to claim second place after an exciting showdown with Mao, which had the packed arena on its feet.