India achieve their target

Shooters, wrestlers shine brightest

 India achieved their objective of finishing in the top five nations at the 20th Commonwealth Games post a successful campaign which threw up new stars, but the arrest of two officials on charges of alleged assault here seems to have dampened the jubilant mood.

A 216-strong team of Indian athletes bagged 15 gold, 30 silver and 19 bronze for a total haul of 64 medals to finish fifth behind table-toppers England (58, 59, 57), Australia (two - 49, 42, 46), Canada (three - 32, 16, 34) and hosts Scotland (four - 19, 15, 19).

India had finished second behind Australia in 2010 Delhi edition but considering that some disciplines, from which the hosts had won medals, were either dropped or pruned down in Glasgow, it was a creditable performance by the Indians.

As expected, India collected maximum medals from shooting, bagging 17 in all (4, 9, 4). The wrestlers though had the most gold count with 13 overall medals (5, 6, 2).

Weightlifters performed above expectations as they bagged 12 medals (3, 4, 5) with India topping the tally in that sport. In judo, India won their biggest haul of four medals (two silver and two bronze) surpassing the two each they had won in both 1990 and 2002.

The powerlifters also contributed their bit as Rajinder Rahelu won a silver in the heavyweight division while Sakina Khatun clinched bronze in the women’s lightweight section.

In hockey, India won their second consecutive silver in the Games after being outclassed by Olympic and world champions Australia 0-4 in the final.

Badminton was another sport which brought the nation laurels with four medals (1, 2, 2). Parupalli Kashyap bagged a singles gold while there was disappointment in women’s singles with P V Sindhu ending up with a bronze. Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa failed to defend the gold they had won in women’s doubles in 2010 as they lost in the final here.

The biggest surprise of the Glasgow edition for India was the gold won by Dipika Pallikal and Joshana Chinappa in women’s doubles squash. They created history by winning India’s first ever gold medal in CWG squash.

India’s boxing, table tennis and  track and field show was a bit of a let down while the country won unexpected two medals in para sports and gymnast Dipa Karmarkar bagging a surprise bronze in women’s vault event after 2010 Delhi Games medal winner Ashish Kumar’s campaign ended in disappointment.

The nation got one gold, one silver and one bronze from track and field events with Vikas Gowda’s yellow metal in the men’s discus throw the only standout performance.