CWG 2018, Day 9: Shooters, wrestlers shine; India lose men's hockey semi-final

Catch all the highlights of Day 9 action of Commonwealth Games 2018 from Gold Coast here. 

India added 11 more medals to its medal tally on Friday, April 13 in Gold Coast. Among the medalists was a 15-year-old shooter, Anish Bhanwala, who became the youngest Indian to win a gold medal at Commonwealth Games. 

Check out the complete list of medal winners (India) on Day 9 of CWG 2018. 

• Anish Bhanwala - Men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol gold
• Bajrang - Men's 65kg Freestyle wrestling gold
• Tejaswini Sawant - Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions gold
• Anjum Moudgil - Women's 50m Rilfe 3 Positions silver
• Manika Batra/Mouma Das - Women's doubles table tennis silver
• Mausam Khatri - Men's Freestyle 97kg wrestling silver
• Pooja Dhanda - Women's Freestyle 57 kg wrestling silver
• Divya Kakran - Women's Freestyle 68kg wrestling bronze
• Husamuddin Mohammed - Men's 56kg bronze
• Manoj Kumar - Men's 69kg bronze
• Naman Tanwar - Men's 91kg bronze

Notably, the country had woken up to the news of two Indian athletes being sent home for breach of no-needle policy.

5:35 pm IST: Boxing

The day ends on a high for India as Satish Kumar makes the final of men's +91kg category. 

He made light work of Keddy Agnes of Seychelles, who threw the towel in the second round. He becomes the fifth Indian boxer on Friday to qualify for boxing final in Gold Coast. 

• Amit qualified for men's 46-49kg final
• Gaurav Solanki stormed into the gold medal match of men's 52kg final.
• Manish Kaushik made the final of men's 60kg category.
• Vikas Krishan stormed into the final of men's 75kg category.

5 pm IST: Badminton - Satwiksairaj/Ashwini through to mixed doubles semi-final

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponappa beat Huat Goh Soon and Jemie Lai Shevon of Malaysia in the mixed doubles quarter-final.

The Indian duo dominated the match against the world number seven Malaysian pairing, clinching a straight-games win.

They will now face Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith in the semi-final tomorrow.

Indian men and women's doubles pair in semi-final action tomorrow

Satwiksairaj and Chirag Shetty have an easy semi-final outing against Sri Lankan pair of Sachin Dias and Buwaneka Goonethilleka at 6:30am IST tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Ashwini Ponappa and Sikki Reddy will face Kuan Chow Mei and Vivian Hoo in the women's doubles semi-final later in the day.

4:50 pm IST: HS Prannoy to face Lee Chong Wei in the men's singles semi-final. 

Prannoy made light work of Dinuka Karunaratna of Sri Lanka in the men's singles quarter-final. He will face Malaysia's legend Chong Wei in the semi-final tomorrow. Notably, the latter is a two-time singles gold medalist at the Commonwealth Games (2006 and 2010). 

Confirmed semi-final line-ups (Singles Badminton in Gold Coast) 

Men's singles

• HS Prannoy vs Lee Chong Wei (MAS)
• Kidambi Srikanth vs Rajiv Ouseph (ENG)

Women's singles

• PV Sindhu vs Michelle Li (CAN)
• Saina Nehwal vs Kirsty Gilmour (SCO)

4:40 pm IST: BOXING - Vikas Krishan through to final! 

Veteran Indian boxer Vikas Krishan made it to the final of men's 75kg boxing event after beating Northern Ireland's Steven Donnelly by unanimous decision. 

The 26-year-old traded blows with Donnelly in the first round but stepped up in the second and dominated it. In the final round, it was one-way traffic as the Norther Ireland boxer's ribs were injured by Vikas' throws. 

 4:37 pm IST: HOCKEY - India men's team loses semi-final 3-2 to New Zealand 

It's all over in the semi-final for India.  Despite a late goal from Harmanpreet Singh India lose 3-2 to new Zealand. The Men in Blue will play the bronze medal match tomorrow.

India started poorly by conceding two early goals as New Zealand were up 2-0 as early as in the 13th minute. Stephen Jenness and Hugo Inglis scored the goals before Harmanpreet reduced India's defecit just before the end of the second quarter. 

New Zealand made it 3-1 in the 40th minute as Marcus Child slotted in a rebound. 

Harmanpreet yet again gave India a lifeline by converting a penalty corner in the 56th minute but New Zealand held their nerves to advance to the gold medal match. 

Numbers tell the story: India converted just one of nine penalty corners and scored only two goals in 18 shots. 

4:26 pm IST: Harmanpreet Singh converts a penalty corner in the 56th minute. Crucial goal for India. 

4:15 pm IST: Hockey men's semi-final

Fourth quarter begins in Gold Coast. India conceded the third goal after some ordinary perfomance from their defenders. It's now or never for the Men in Blue, who are trialing 3-1. 

4:12 pm IST: Boxing - Another bronze medal for India! 

Manoj Kumar loses men's 69g semi-final to England's Pat McCormack. The judges award a unanimous decision win to Pat McCormack of England.

It was a riveting contest though.

Kumar becomes the second Indian boxer on Friday after Husammuddin Mohammed (56kg bout) to settle for bronze.

4:05 pm IST: Hockey men's semi-final

New Zealand make it 3-1 in the 40th minute.

PR Sreejesh makes a brilliant effort to save the shot from the penalty corner but Marcus Child slots in the rebound. It's getting tougher and tougher for the Men in Blue. 

4:03 pm IST: Table Tennis Manika Batra and Mouma Das settle for silver! 

The Indian women's doubles pairing lose gold medal match to Singapore Feng Tianwei and Yu Mengyu 3-0.

The world-class pairing of Tianwei and Mengyu eased through the final, winning all three games without breaking a sweat. They targetted Batra, who was underwhelming on the big day. 

3:55 pm IST: TABLE TENNIS

India's Manika Batra and Mouma Das concede two games in the women's gold medal match to Singapore's Feng Tianwei and Yu Mengyu. 

The Singaporean paddlers are in control of the match after having dominated the first two games (11-5 and 11-4). 

3:42 pm IST: BOXING

India's Husammudin Mohammed loses 56kg semi-final boxing bout to England's Peter McGrail, settles for a bronze medal. Three more boxers will be in action later today. 

3:40 pm IST: Table Tennis

 Women's doubles paddlers Sutirtha Mukherjee and Pooja Sahasrabudhe have lost their women's doubles bronze medal match 3-1 to Malaysia's Ho Ying and Lyne Karen.

Next up is the gold medal much-anticipated gold medal match between Manika Batra/Mouma Das and Feng Tianwei/Yu Mengyu.

Men's hockey semi-final live

3:40 pm IST: India pull one back towards the end of the second quarter as Harmanpreet Singh converts a Penalty Stroke by firing one past the New Zealand shot-stopper. Crucial goal that for India. 

New Zealand lead 2-1 at the end of the second quarter. 

3:35 pm IST: Five minutes into the second quarter, India have so far not found a goal. It's still 2-0 in favor of New Zealand at the Gold Coast Hockey Center. 

3:35 pm IST:  Boxing semi-final matches begin with four Indian in fray. First up is Hussamuddin Mohammed in the men's 56kg semi-final. 

3:24 pm IST: PV Sindhu joins Saina Nehwal in women's singles semi-finals.

The Rio Olympic silver medalist outclassed Canada's Brittney Tam in straight games to clinch a berth in the last-four round. 

While Saina will take on Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour in tomorrow's semi-final, Sindhu will face the winner of the quarter-final between Canada's Michelle Li and Malaysia's Soniia Cheah. 

3:20 pm IST: End of the first quarter: India 0-2 New Zealand. 

3:17 pm IST: Stephen Jenness makes it 2-0 in New Zealand's favor in the 13th minute. Some ordinary defending from India. They need to buckle up if they are to get back into this match. 

3pm IST: India started the match well by winning a penalty corner inside the first five minutes but the Men in Blue have conceded early. Drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh failed to convert the penalty corner. 

Hugo Inglis puts New Zealand 1-0 up in the 7th minute of the match. 

No all-Indian final in men's doubles table tennis

Meanwhile, no all-Indian men's doubles table tennis final as India's Harmeet Desai and Shankar Shetty lose semi-final to England's Paul Drinkhall and Liam Pitchford. The English duo will take on Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan G in the final tomorrow. 

2:37 pm IST: List of wrestling medal winners (India) on Day 9 in Gold Coast 

1. Bajrang Punia - Men's 65kg Freestyle gold
2. Mausam Khatri - Men's 97kg Freestyle silver
3. Pooja Dhanda - Women's 57kg Freestyle silver
4. Divya Kakran - women's 68kg Freestyle bronze

2:30 pm IST: Squash - Dipika Pallikal and Saurav Ghosal reach mixed doubles final! 

The Indian mixed doubles duo have won a thrilling semi-final against New Zealand's Joelle King and Paul Coll 2-1. Dipika and Saurav conceded the first game 11-9 but fought back strong with a 11-8 win in the second. 

Dipka and Saurav held their nerves to win a nail-biting decider 11-0. 

Notably, the New Zealand duo had defeated Joshna Chinappa and Harinder Pal Sandhu in the quarter-final of the ongoing competition. 

2:27pm IST: Wrestling - India's Mausam Khatri settles for silver. 

The 27-year-old stumbles in the final hurdle of men's 97kg Freestyle wrestling gold medal match against South Africa's Martin Erasmus, who wins by Technical Superiority (12-2).

Khatri was pushed to the backfoot from the word go as Erasmus came up with two four-point moves to put the bout, which did not event go to the second period, beyond doubt. 

We head into the final match of wrestling today and it's the gold medal match of men's Freestyle 97kg between India's Mausam Khatri and South Africa's Martin Erasmus.

2:08 pm IST: Table Tennis

 Sharath Achanta and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran have reached the final of men's doubles event. 

The duo conceded the first game against Yew En Koen Pang/Shao Feng Ethan Poh of Singapore only to make a strong comeback and win the semi-final 7-11, 11-5, 11-1, 11-3.

It remains to be seen if there will be an all-Indian men's doubles table tennis final on Saturday as Harmeet Desai and Shankar Shetty will take on Paul Drinkhall and Liam Pitchford in the second semi-final shortly.

1:52 pm IST: Divya Kakran wins bronze in women's Freestyle 68kg category 

19-year-old Divya Kakran takes only a few seconds to win her bronze medal bout as she defeats Bangaldesh's Sherin Sultana via Victory by Fall. 

1:40 pm IST: Pooja Dhanda finishes second best in women's 57kg Freestyle final, settles for silver. 

The 24-year-old was taken aback by Odunayo Adekuoroye aggressive start in the first period as the Nigeran was up 6-1 at the break. 

Dhanda managed to make a strong comeback winning four points towards the end of the bout, but it was not enough for her to win the yellow metal. 

1:34 pm IST: Pooja Dhanda is trailing 6-1 at the halfway mark in this women's 57kg Freestyle gold medal match. The Indian coaches are busy, telling the 24-year-old what she needs to do in the last three minutes of the bout. 

1:30 pm IST: Pooja Dhanda is in action in the women's 57kg gold medal match against Odunayo Adekuoroye of Nigeria. 

1:21 pm IST: Bajrang Punia wins the men's 65kg Freestyle gold medal! 

He defeats Canada's Charig Kane by Technical Superiority (10-0) in the final, does it without breaking a sweat in just 140 seconds. 

Notably, he won alll his four bouts in Commonwealth Games via Technical Superirority. 

This is the 24-year-old's second Commonwealth Games medal as he had won a silver in the 2014 edition in Glasgow (61kg Freestyle Wrestling). 

1:02 pm IST: Time for the big match! Bajrang Punia, the 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medalist, will be in action in the men's 65kg gold medal match shortly.

He will take on Charig Kane of Wales in the final. 

12:56 pm IST:  Divya Kakran loses semi-final of women's 57kg Freestyle wrestling.

She was decimated by Nigeria's Blessing Oborududu 11-1 in an one-sided contest. 

12:47 pm IST:Pooja Dhanda of India reaches women's 57kg final with a convincing 11-5 win over Joseph Essombe of Cameroon.

The Indian wrestler was dominating the bout from the word go and managed to score nine points in the first period. With a tight defense, she managed to hold on to the lead and scored two points towards the end of the bout to secure her berth in the gold medal match. 

12: 50 pm IST: Table Tennis - Sathiyan Gnanasekaran crashes out of men's singles event. 

Gnanasekaran was outclased 11-8, 11-8, 13-11, 17-15 in the men's singles quarter-final by Samuel Walker of England.

Earlier in the day, Sharath Achanta reached the men's singles semi-final while Harmeet Desai bowed out in the quarter-final.

12:25 pm IST: Table Tennis

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran is in action against Samuel Walker of England in the men's singles quarter-final.

It has been a bad start for the Indian as he has conceded his first two games. 

12:05 pm IST: Wrestling action will resume shortly with several Indians eyeing medals.

Women's Freestyle 57kg semi-final

• Pooja Dhanda vs Joseph Essombe Tiako (CMR) - Not before 12:30 pm IST

The bout will be followed by

Women's 68kg Freestyle semi-final

• Divya Kakran vs Blessing Oborududu (NGR)

Men's Freestyle 65kg Gold medal match

• Bajrang vs Kane Charig (WAL)

Men's Freestyle 97kg gold medal match

• Mausam Khatri vs Martin Erasmus (RSA)

12 pm IST: Squash and Table Tennis events in the evening session of Day 9

Squash Mixed doubles semi-final

• Dipika Pallikal Karthik/Saurav Ghosal vs Joelle King/Paul Coll (NZL) - 1:30 pm IST

(Resuts: Women's doubles pairing of Dipika and Joshna Chinappa qualified for the semi-final; men's doubles pairing of Vikram Malhotra and Ramit Tandon lost the quarter-final today)

Table Tennis

Men's doubles semi-finals

• Sathiyan Gnanasekaran/Achanta Sharath vs Koen Pang Yew/Ethan Poh Feng (SGP) - 1:30 pm IST
• Harmeet Desai/Shankar Shetty vs Paul Drinkhall/Liam Pitchford (ENG) - 2:10 pm IST

Women's doubles bronze medal match

• Sutirtha Mukherjee/Pooja Sahastrabudhe vs Ying Ho/Karen Lyne (MAS) - 2:50 pm IST

Women's doubles gold medal match

• Manika Batra/Mouma Das vs Feng Tianwei/Yu Mengyu (SGP) - 3:35 pm IST

(Results: Mixed doubles pairing of Sharath Achanta/Mouma Das and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Manika Batra reached the semi-finals after winning their last-eight matches today.)

11:48 am IST: It's all over for Gold Coast double trap champion Shreyasi Singh in the women's trap final.

She is the second shooter to be eliminated from the final. She finishes fifth after shooting 19 out of 30 targets. 

11:20 am IST: SHOOTING - Women's Trap Final begins. 

India's Shreyasi Singh will be in action in the six-woman final of women's trap at the Belmont Shooting Center, Gold Coast. 

She had qualified for the final on the fourth spot after shooting 67 points in the qualification stage earlier today.

Notably, Singh, the 26-year-old from New Delhi, will be eyeing her second podium finish in Gold Coast as she won the women's double trap gold medal earlier this week. 

11:05 am IST: BOXING - Naman Tanwar settles for bronze!

The 19-year-old was outclassed in the men's 91kg semi-final to Australis' Jason Whateley by unanimous decision, settles for a bronze medal. 

One of the most exicting and powerful boxers in the Indian contingent, Tanwar was involved in a fiercely fought battle but Whateley, the seasoned campaigner, managed to put pressure on the young Indian boxer by dominating the second and third rounds. 

10: 30 am IST: Boxing action resumes in Gold Coast. 

Naman Tanwar, known for his power and swag in the ring, will take on Jason Whateley of Australia in the men's 91kg semi-final shortly. 

Who is Anish Bhanwala 

15-year-old shooter Anish, who has become the youngest Indian to win a Commonwealth Games gold medal in Gold Coast, was a modern pentathlete. 

Modern pentathlon is an Olympic sport that involves five different events -  fencing, 200m freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, and a final combined event of pistol shooting and cross country running (3200m).

He took to shooting at the age of 12. 

Notably, Anish had won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games Shooting Championships in Gold Coast in November 2017 and was one of the favorites going into Friday's final.

Gold Coast gold medal tally > Glasgow gold medal tally

With 16 gold medals, India have emulated their tally from Glasgow Games of 2014. There are two more days of action left in Gold Coast. Inida most successful CWG came at home during the 2010 edition in New Delhi where they won 32 gold medals. 

10:10 am IST: BADMINTON - Saina Nehwal reaches women's singles semi-final

2010 Commonwealth Games gold medalist Saina Nehwal has reached the semi-final in Gold Coast after beating Canada's Rachel Honderich 21-8, 21-15 in the quarter-final today. 

10 am IST: BOXING - Manish Kaushik reaches men's 60kg final 

Manish Kaushik defeats England's James McGivern in the men's 60kg boxing semi-final by split decision (4-1) to reach the gold medal match in the category.

He is the third Indian boxer on Friday after Gaurav Solanki (men's 52kg) and Amit (men's 46-49kg) to assure India at least a silver medal. 

9:40 am IST: SHOOTING - 15-year-old Anish Bhanwala wins Gold! 

15-year-old Indian shooter, Anish Bhanwala wins the men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event after setting a Commonwealth Games record of 30.

He becomes the youngest Indian to win a gold medal at Commonwealth Games. 

He finished two points clear off siver medalist, Sergei Evglevski of Australia. 

9:30 am IST: BADMINTON - Kidambi Srikanth reaches men's singles semi-final

Newly-crowned world number one Kidambi Srikanth Singapore's Ryan Ng ZIn Rei 21-15, 21-12 in just 34 minutes to book a berth in the semi-final of the men's singles comeptition. 

Sikki and Ashwini reach women's doubles semi-final

Earlier in the day, Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy reached the women's doubles semi-final after beating Hasini Ambalangodage and Dilrukshi Beruwelage of Sri Lanka in straight games.

Satwiksairaj and Chirag reach last-four round, Ruthvika withdraws with injury

Men's doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj and Chirag Shetty also reached the semi-final round after beating Malaysia's Peng Soon Chan and Soon Huat Goh 21-14, 15-21, 21-9 i the quarter-final.

Women's singles player Ruthvika Shivani though withdrew from her women's singles quarter-final against Kirsty Gilmour of Scotland with an injury.

9:30 am IST: BOXING - Gaurav Solanki books berth in men's 52kg gold medal match

21-year-old Solanki showed a lot of courage after being knocked down by Sri Lanka's Bandara M Vidanalange twice in the frist round. 

He came back strong to win the semi-final bout via split decision (4-0). 

9:16 am IST: Gaurav Solanki of India takes on Bandara M Vidanalange of Sri Lanka in the men's 52kg semi-final

Bandara throws two massive left hooks on the Indian, who looked underwhelming in the first round. Solanki manages to survive another round but the powerful Sri Lankan is certainly on top here after knocking his opponent down twice as early as in the first round. 

9:13 am IST: BOXING - Amit reaches men's 46-49kg gold medal match, assured of silver

"Oh my god, I just saw Amit throw a right hand," said the on-air commentator while watching the instant highlights of men's 46-49kg semi-final between India's Amit and Uganda's Juma Miiro. 

Such was Amit's dominance that the 22-year-old southpaw was chilling around in the net before clinching a win by unanimous decision.

He threw most of his punches with the left hand and impressed quite a few with his swift movements. He will take on England's Yafai Galal in the final on Saturday, April 14. 

9:05 am IST: BOXING

Amit is dominating the bout. He is swift on the ring and is using his left hand to land a series of punches on his Ugandan opponent. He seems to be in control after the first two rounds. 

Amit is in the ring against Uganda's Juma Miiro. With a win today, he will be assured of at least a silver medal in the 46-49kg category. 

8:40 am IST: BOXING

Eight Indian boxers are in action in the semi-final rounds of boxing today. 

First up is 22-year-old Amit and he will take on Juma Miiro of Uganda in the men's 46-49kg semi-final. 

Full schedule -- Indian boxers semi-finals on Day 9 of CWG 2018. 

Men's 52 kg Semi-final

• Gaurav Solanki (IND) vs M Vidanalange Ishan Bandara (SL) - 9 am IST

Men's 60 kg Semi-final

• Manish Kaushik (IND) vs James McGivern (NIR) - 9.30 am IST 

Men's 91 kg Semi-final

• Naman Tanwar (IND) vs Jason Whateley (AUS) - 10.30 am IST

Men's 56 kg Semi-final

• Husamuddin Mohammed (IND) vs Peter McGrail (ENG) - 3.15 pm IST

Men's 69 kg Semi-final

• Manoj Kumar (IND) vs Pat McCormack (ENG) - 3.45 pm IST 

Men's 75 kg Semi-final

• Vikas Krishan vs Steven Donnelly - 4 pm IST

Men's +91 kg Semi-final

• Satish Kumar (IND) vs Keddy Agnes (SEY) - 5 pm IST

8 am IST: SHOOTING - Indian shooters finish 1-2 in 50m Rifle 3 Positions

Even as news of the ban of 2 Indian athletes over breach of Commonwealth Games Federation's 'No Needle Policy' has come as a huge shock, veteran shooter Tejaswini Sawant has helped bring back the smiles.

The 37-year-old has won the gold medal in Women's 50m Rifle 3 Position after setting a new Commonwealth Games record of 457.9 points. India's Anjum Moudgil made sure India finished 1-2 as she bagged the silver with a total of 445.7.

Notably, Sawant had won a silver medal in women's 50m Rifle Prone Thursday, April 12.

Morning round-up

ATHLETICS - Men's 1500m qualifying

India's Jinson Johnson qualified for the men's 1500m final after finishing second with a timing of 3:47.04s in heat 2 ealier today. He will take part in the final of the event on Saturday, April 14.  

ATHLETICS - Men's Javelin Throw

India's Neeraj Chopra qualified for the final of the men's javelin throw with a best throw of 80.42m. He finished second in Qualifying Group A behind Anderson Peters of Grenada, who managed a best throw of 80.44m.

Vipin Kashana also made it to the final after finishing third with a best throw of 78.88 from Qualifying Group B.

The final of men's javelin throw will be held on Saturday, April 13.