CWG: Indian wrestlers bag two gold medals on Day 8
Day 8 of the Commonwealth Games at Gold Cost was quite a productive one for India as Indian wrestlers bagged two gold medals. As per the latest medal tally, India have a total of 14 gold medals, 7 silver medals and 10 bronze medals taking the total to 31. India are currently placed 3rd on the leader board behind Australia and England.
India's first gold medal of the day came when wrestler Rahul Aware beat Canada's Steven Takahashi 15-7 in the final of the men's 57kg freestyle event. Aware was suffering from a groin niggle but decided to ignore it and carry on with close to a minute remaining on the clock. This is the 26-year-old's first gold at the Commonwealth Games.
India's second gold was won by the legendary Sushil Kumar, who dominated the 74kg wrestling final. The two-time Olympic medalist won his third consecutive CWG gold beating Johannes Botha of South Africa on technical superiority. Sushil was so dominant that he didn't lose a single point throughout the 2018 Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast.
In the women's category, 2014 Games gold medalist Babita Kumari had to settle for a silver medal in the women's freestyle 53kg Nordic after she lost the final to Canada's Diana Weicker. Shooter Tejaswini Sawant added another silver to India's medal tally by finishing second in the women's 50m Prone final. This is the sixth CWG medal for 37-year-old Sawant.
The Indian women's hockey team suffered a heart-break after their chances of reaching the final were thwarted by the Aussies. India fell to a narrow 0-1 defeat to Australia in the semi-final of women's hockey. Grace Stewart scored for the Aussies. As a consolation, India will now take on England in the bronze medal match.
India's squash duo Dipika Pallikal and Saurav Ghosal reached the semi-finals of the squash mixed doubles event. The duo beat Tesni Evans and Peter Creed of Wales 11-8, 11-10. They will face top seeds Joelle King and Paul Coll of New Zealand in the semis tomorrow. However, compatriots Joshna Chinappa and Harinder Pal Sandhu were knocked out of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
India ended Day 8 on a high note with some good news from the field. Discus throwers Seema Punia and Navjeet Kaur Dhillon opened India's medal account in athletics, clinching a silver and a bronze respectively.
