India continued their good showing in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow to add seven more medals - including two gold - on the third day of the multisport event, maintaining fifth position in the medals tally.
Indian women shooters showed nerves of steel to make a rare 'double 1-2' at the Barry Buddon Shooting Range on Saturday. Apurvi Chandela and Rahi Sarnobat clinched gold in 10m air rifle and 25m pistol events respectively, while teammates Ayonika Paul and Anisa Sayyed finished runners-up.
Apurvi, in particular, was at her dazzling best and came out firing in the qualifications to set a new CWG record. After scoring a record 415.6 in the qualifying, she carried her form into the finals and scored 206.7 to claim top honour ahead of Anisa.
"The feeling still has not hit me," Apurvi said. "My focus was completely on the target, even though I could hear the crowd, the cheers."
Meanwhile, Prakash Nanjappa had a heartbreak in the men's 10m Air Pistol event as he finished with a silver medal. Nanjappa made a strong start but lost concentration midway into the elimination to shoot a disappointing 7.7.
After squandering an early advantage to Australian Daniel Repacholi, the 38-year-old tried desperately to catch up. But nerves got the better of Nanjappa in the penultimate shoot as he failed to capitalise on Repacholi's mistake and had to settle for silver.
"Now I am focusing on World Championships in Spain to make the Olympic team for 2016 and then the Asian Games," said Nanjappa, who scored 198.2 in the elimination.
It was a mixed day for Indian judokas as Rajwinder Kaur won the bronze medal but Sahil Pathania, Pariskhit Kumar and Jina Devi Chongtha flattered in their respective fights for the final podium positions at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre.
Rajwinder, however, provided some delight to the Indian contingent and clinched the final podium position with a win over Esther Akinyi Ratugi of Kenya.
Omkar Otari (69kg) clinched bronze in the weightlifting event, after lifting a total of 296kg weight on the third day. Mohd Hafifi Mansor won the gold by lifting 305kg, while silver medal went to Yinka Ayenuwa of Nigeria.
Meanwhile, Indian star pugilists Vijender Singh and Manoj Kumar made flying starts and cruised into the second round in their respective weight categories on Saturday.
Vijender was at his best against Andrew Kometa and quickly imposed himself on the Kiribati boxer in the middleweight category. He showed class and intent to thrash Kometa 3-0 in a one-sided contest.
"First bout is always tough and I am happy I won it. I am hoping for the best and will go step by step. I am hoping to at least reach the final," Vijender said. "Without headgear it is dangerous and injury may happen. Manoj Kumar was hit on the head (in the earlier bout) and so we have to be careful."
Meanwhile, the Indian badminton team managed to reach the semifinals of the mixed team event by beating Canada 3-1. Star shuttler PV Sindhu was stunned by Michelle Li but the Indian team still managed to get the better of their North American opponents.
Earlier, the mixed doubles pair of Kidambi Srikanth and Jwala Gutta provided India with a winning start. Parupalli Kashyap made it 2-0 for India, beating Andrew D'Souza 21-11, 21-9 in the singles event but Canada reduced the deficit, when Michelle defeated Sindhu 15-21, 22-20, 21-17.
Men's double pair of Pranaav Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar defeated Adrian Liu and Derrick Ng 21-15, 19-21, 21-13 to seal the encounter for India.
