The momentum built by the Indian contingent on day 2 of Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games (CWG) continued on day 3 of the tournament after weightlifters Jeremy Lalrinnunga and Achinta Sheuli won gold medals, taking India's medal tally to 6.
While 19-year-old Lalrinnunga bagged the gold medal with a dominant performance in the 67kg category, Achinta Sheuli's strong performance in the 73kg event helped India win another medal.
Both Lalrinnunga and Achinta created new Commonwealth Games records as they won gold medals in their respective weightlifting category.
Result Summary | India on Day 3 at CWG | 2 Gold medals today:
— India_AllSports (@India_AllSports) July 31, 2022
✨ GOLD: Jeremy Lalrinnunga & Achinta Sheuli
👉 Swimming: Srihari Nataraj ➡️ Final
👉 Badminton: Advance to Mixed Team Semis
👉 TT: Advance to Men's Team Semis
👉 Squash: Saurav & Joshna ➡️ QF #CWG2022India pic.twitter.com/SwA0fjIpi0
Besides, the Indian women's cricket team also had a memorable day after they defeated arch-rivals Pakistan to win their first group stage game. Led by Sneh Rana and Radha Yadav, the Indian bowling line-up wreaked havoc on the Pakistanis, bowling them out for 99 after the match was reduced to 18 overs per side due to rains.
Later, Smriti Mandhana displayed a pure batting masterclass as India chased their target comfortably in 11.4 overs with 8 wickets in hand. With this win, India has 2 points with a net run rate (NRR) of +1.165.
News Flash: CWG: India thrash Pakistan by 8 wickets in their 2nd Group match
— India_AllSports (@India_AllSports) July 31, 2022
👉 India were set up a target of 100 runs which they achieved in just 11.4 overs
👉 Smriti Mandhana scored 63 runs off just 42 balls.
👉 Next Ind Vs Barbados on 3rd Aug (final group match) #CWG2022 pic.twitter.com/HVzmpkW4Ap
SOLID START BY MEN's HOCKEY TEAM
The men's hockey team also started their CWG 2022 campaign with a win over Ghana, beating them 11-0.
They were ahead 3-0 after the first quarter itself and 5-0 after the first half. Harmanpreet Singh struck a hat-trick while Jugraj helped himself to a couple of goals. Abhishek opened the scoring for the Indians while Shamsher, Akashdeep, Lalit, Mandeep, and Varun Kumar were the others who got on the board. Krishan Pathak also did his bit to have a clean sheet.
CWG | Men's Hockey: India start their campaign in style by thrashing minnows Ghana 11-0 in their 1st Group match.
— India_AllSports (@India_AllSports) July 31, 2022
👉 Harmanpreet Singh scored a hattrick. India converted 6 of their 13 PCs.
👉 Next India will take on hosts & WR 6 England tomorrow at 2030 hrs IST. #CWG2022India pic.twitter.com/qplYjdBQMA
CAN INDIA WIN A MEDAL IN SWIMMING?
In-form swimmer Srihari Nataraj also raced to the final after he finished at 5th position in semi-final 1 of 50-meter backstroke. He finished the semi-final round with a timing of 25.38s to qualify for the final.
News Flash:
— India_AllSports (@India_AllSports) July 31, 2022
CWG | Swimming: Srihari Nataraj storms into Final of Men’s 50m Backstroke event.
Srihari finished 5th in his Heat clocking 25.38 secs; overall finished 8th in Semis.
Top 8 Qualify | Final tomorrow night at 0107 hrs IST. #CWG2022 pic.twitter.com/YbHR0WoEQ7
MEN's TABLE TENNIS TEAM RACES TO SEMIS
The men's table tennis team also continued the momentum it built on day 2 and raced to the semi-finals of the tournament with a comfortable victory over Bangladesh in the round of 16. They will now play Nigeria in the semis on Monday.
MIXED BADMINTON TEAM IN SEMIS
The mixed badminton team also reached the semi-final on Sunday with a sensational 3-0 win against South Africa.
GHOSAL, JOSHNA ENTER QUARTERFINALS OF SQUASH
Leading India squash player Saurav Ghosal on Sunday joined Joshna Chinappa in the singles quarterfinals of the Commonwealth Games. The world number 15 from India blanked Canadian David Baillargeon, ranked 62, 3-0 to reach the last eight stage. The final scoreline read 11-6, 11-2, 11-6.
News Flash:
— India_AllSports (@India_AllSports) July 31, 2022
CWG | Squash: Saurav Ghosal sails into QF with 3-0 win over WR 62 David Baillargeon.
👉 Next Saurav will take on WR 34 Greg Lobban in QF tomorrow at 1845 hrs IST. #CWG2022 pic.twitter.com/hXygshLUVx
Ghosal was hardly troubled in the first two games. In the third, the Canadian led 3-0 before the Indian levelled it to 3-3. After that, he took the decisive lead. Earlier on Sunday, Joshna outwitted New Zealand's Kaitlyn Watts 3-1 to progress to the women's singles quarterfinals.
The 18-time national champion kept her calm to recover from a mid-game slump to prevail 11-8 9-11 11-4 11-6 against Watts to set up a last-eight clash with Canada's Hollie Naughton.