Day 1: Judokas, shuttlers shine
25 July 2014 6:31 AM IST
India launched their campaign in the 20th Commonwealth Games with a flourish with judokas Navjot Chana, Shushila Likmabam and Manjeet Nandal assuring the team of at least three medals while the paddlers, shuttlers and squash players had easy outings on the opening day of competitions here on Thursday.
The 30-year-old Chana of Punjab and Manipuri judoka Sushila, 19, were the star performers for the Indian contingent as they romped into the finals of their respective weight categories.
In the men’s 60 kg, Chana defeated Daniel Le Grange of South Africa in just 1 minute and 51 seconds to storm into the medal round. He will take on Ashley McKenzie of England in the final later in the day. In the women’s section, Shushila Likmabam reached the finals in the 48 kg category defeating Aussie rival Chloe Rayner in two minutes and 23 seconds. Sushila got a couple of Wazaris which is equivalent to an ‘Ippon’ which finished the bout. She will lock horns with Kimberley Renicks of Scotland in the final.
She had earlier defeated Amy Meyer of Australia in 2 minutes and 38 seconds in the quarter-finals while she got better of Mani Medza Effe of Cameroon in a minute and 41 seconds in the pre-quarterfinal. The finals were scheduled later on Thursday.
While the swimmers and cyclists failed to make much of an impact, it turned out to be a relatively sweat-free day for the paddlers, shuttlers and squash players as they trounced their first round opponents. In badminton, India spanked minnows Ghana 5-0 in a Group B match of the mixed team event.
India hardly broke any sweat as Parupalli Kashyap started the proceeding, thrashing Daniel Sam 21-6, 21-16 in a 27-minute men’s singles match to put his team in the driver’s seat right from the start.
World Championship bronze medallist P V Sindhu then taught Stella Amasah a lesson or two in badminton with a 21-7, 21-5 victory in the women’s singles competition to give India a 2-0 lead. Men’s doubles pair of Akshay Dewalkar and Pranaav Chopra thrashed Emmanuel Donkor and Abraham Ayittey 21-7, 21-11 in just 22 minutes to make it 3-0 in India’s favour.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa then took another 17 minutes to brush aside Evelyn Botwe and Diana Archer as India continued their rampaging run. Finally, P C Thulasi and Kidambi Srikanth, both singles players, paired up and trounced another makeshift combination of Sam and Amasah 21-5, 21-9 in a mixed doubles match to put an end to Ghana’s misery at the Emirates Arena. India will next take on Uganda.
Indian men and women’s table tennis team made a comfortable start by defeating Vanuatu and Barbados respectively at the Scotstoun Sports Campus. The women’s team, surprise silver medallists in Delhi four years ago, blanked Barbados 3-0 courtesy a clinical performance by Shamini Kumaresan, Manika Batra and Madhurika Patkar.
India’s top player Sharath Kamal was rested for men’s team opener against Vanuatu. Harmeet Desai won the first singles against Ham Lulu 11-2, 11-3, 11-5. Southpaw Sanil Shetty then defeated Yoshua Shing 11-6, 11-2, 7-11, 11-1. Shetty and Anthony Amalraj paired up for the doubles to give India a 3-0 win. They beat Alan Lin and Shing 11-6, 11-5, 11-4.
The 30-year-old Chana of Punjab and Manipuri judoka Sushila, 19, were the star performers for the Indian contingent as they romped into the finals of their respective weight categories.
In the men’s 60 kg, Chana defeated Daniel Le Grange of South Africa in just 1 minute and 51 seconds to storm into the medal round. He will take on Ashley McKenzie of England in the final later in the day. In the women’s section, Shushila Likmabam reached the finals in the 48 kg category defeating Aussie rival Chloe Rayner in two minutes and 23 seconds. Sushila got a couple of Wazaris which is equivalent to an ‘Ippon’ which finished the bout. She will lock horns with Kimberley Renicks of Scotland in the final.
She had earlier defeated Amy Meyer of Australia in 2 minutes and 38 seconds in the quarter-finals while she got better of Mani Medza Effe of Cameroon in a minute and 41 seconds in the pre-quarterfinal. The finals were scheduled later on Thursday.
While the swimmers and cyclists failed to make much of an impact, it turned out to be a relatively sweat-free day for the paddlers, shuttlers and squash players as they trounced their first round opponents. In badminton, India spanked minnows Ghana 5-0 in a Group B match of the mixed team event.
India hardly broke any sweat as Parupalli Kashyap started the proceeding, thrashing Daniel Sam 21-6, 21-16 in a 27-minute men’s singles match to put his team in the driver’s seat right from the start.
World Championship bronze medallist P V Sindhu then taught Stella Amasah a lesson or two in badminton with a 21-7, 21-5 victory in the women’s singles competition to give India a 2-0 lead. Men’s doubles pair of Akshay Dewalkar and Pranaav Chopra thrashed Emmanuel Donkor and Abraham Ayittey 21-7, 21-11 in just 22 minutes to make it 3-0 in India’s favour.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa then took another 17 minutes to brush aside Evelyn Botwe and Diana Archer as India continued their rampaging run. Finally, P C Thulasi and Kidambi Srikanth, both singles players, paired up and trounced another makeshift combination of Sam and Amasah 21-5, 21-9 in a mixed doubles match to put an end to Ghana’s misery at the Emirates Arena. India will next take on Uganda.
Indian men and women’s table tennis team made a comfortable start by defeating Vanuatu and Barbados respectively at the Scotstoun Sports Campus. The women’s team, surprise silver medallists in Delhi four years ago, blanked Barbados 3-0 courtesy a clinical performance by Shamini Kumaresan, Manika Batra and Madhurika Patkar.
India’s top player Sharath Kamal was rested for men’s team opener against Vanuatu. Harmeet Desai won the first singles against Ham Lulu 11-2, 11-3, 11-5. Southpaw Sanil Shetty then defeated Yoshua Shing 11-6, 11-2, 7-11, 11-1. Shetty and Anthony Amalraj paired up for the doubles to give India a 3-0 win. They beat Alan Lin and Shing 11-6, 11-5, 11-4.
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