IMAGE: India’s Murali Sreeshankar poses on the podium with his silver medal from the men’s long jump on Thursday, Day 7 of the Commonwealth Games, at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham. Photograph: Michael Steele/Getty Images
Murali Sreeshankar won silver in the men’s long jump event to give India a second medal in athletics at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Thursday.
The 23-year-old National record holder soared to 8.08 metres on his fifth attempt to finish second behind Laquan Nairn of The Bahamas in a nerve-wrecking final.
There was more joy in track and field as Hima Das won her women’s 200 metres heat with a timing of 23.42s to qualify for the semi-finals.
In hockey, Harmanpreet Singh scored a hat-trick as India trounced Wales 4-1 in their last men’s Pool B match to seal a place in the semi-finals.
The other highlight of the day’s action came from the roped square which saw three Indian pugilists going through to the semi-finals, thereby making it a total of six boxers who are now assured of medals.
Here’s a look at Indian athletes’ performance on Day 7 of the Games.
Athletics:
Men’s Long Jump final: Murali Sreeshankar won silver to give India a second medal in athletics at the Games. The 23-year-old National record holder soared to 8.08 metres on his fifth attempt to finish behind gold medallist Laquan Nairn of the Bahamas.
Nairn also had a best jump of 8.08m but his second-best effort of 7.98m was better than Sreeshankar’s 7.84m.
Muhammed Anees Yahiya ended up fifth with a best jump of 7.97m.
Women’s 200m: Hima Das qualified for the semi-finals, winning her heat with a timing of 23.42 seconds.
Women’s hammer throw: Manju Bala advanced to the final while compatriot Sarita Singh failed to make the cut.
The 33-year-old Bala finished 11th in the qualification round with a best throw of 59.68m in her first attempt.
Sarita failed to make the final after finishing 13th with her best throw of 57.48m.
Badminton (Round of 32):
Women’s singles: P.V. Sindhu beat Maldives’ Fathimath Abdul Razzak 21-4, 21-11.
Men’s singles: Kidambi Srikanth beat against Uganda’s Daniel Wanagaliya 21-9, 21-9.
Mixed doubles: Ashwini Ponappa and B. Sumeeth Reddy lost to England’s Callum Hemming and Jessica Pugh 18-21, 16-21.
Boxing (quarter-finals):
48kg-51kg flyweight: Amit Panghal beat Scotland’s Lennon Mulligan 5-0.
57-60 kg lightweight: Debutant Jasmine Lamboria prevail over New Zealand’s Troy Garton 4-1 to enter the semi-finals.
92kg Super-heavyweight: Debutant Sagar Ahlawat continued to impress. Having defeated former Olympian Maxme Njieyo of Cameroon 5-0 in his opening round, he proved too good for Seychelles’s Keddy Evans Agnes, winning 5-0 to make the semi-finals.
63.5-67kg welterweight: Rohit Tokas beat Xavier Mata’afa-Ikinofo of Niue 5-0 to also make the semi-finals.
Hockey:
Men’s Pool B: India beat Wales 4-1 to qualify for the semi-finals. Harmanpreet Singh scored a hat-trick (19th, 20th, 40th minutes), converting two penalty-corners and a penalty stroke while Gurjant Singh added a field goal in the 49th minute.
Lawn Bowls:
Men’s Singles: Mridul Borgohain failed to make quarter-finals after losing his fifth-round match to Jersey’s Ross Davis 13-21.
Squash:
Women’s doubles (Round of 32): Sunanya Sara Kuruvilla/ Anahat Singh beat Sri Lanka’s Yeheni Kuruppu and Chanithma Sinaly 11-9, 11-4.
Men’s doubles (Round of 32): Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar beat Luca Reich and Joe Chapman of the British Virgin Islands 11-3, 11-1.
Mixed doubles (Round of 16): Dipika Pallikal Karthik/Sourav Ghosal made it to the quarter-finals with a 11-8, 11-4 win over the Wales pair of Emily Whitlock and Pater Creed.
Mixed doubles (Round of 16): Joshana Chinappa/Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu lost 8-11, 9-11 to Australia’s Donna Lobban and Cameron Pilley.
Women’s doubles (Round of 16): Joshana Chinappa/Dipika Pallikal Karthik beat Best Meagan / Haywood Amanda of Barbados 11-4, 11-4.
Table Tennis:
Mixed doubles (Round of 64): Sanil Shetty/Reeth Tennison lost to the Malaysian pair of Wong Qi Shen/Tee Ai Xin 6-11, 10-12, 13-11, 11-8, 8-11.
Mixed doubles (Round of 32): Sathiyan Gnansekaran/Manika Batra beat Crea Mick/Sinon Laura of Seychelles 11-1, 11-3, 11-1; Achantha Sharath Kamal/Sreeja Akula beat Cathcart Owen/Earley Sophie of Northern Ireland 11-7, 11-8, 11-9.
Women’s singles (Round of 32): Sreeja Akula beat Malaysia’s Karen Lyne 12-10, 12-10, 4-11, 11-8, 11-8; Manika Batra beat Canada’s Fu Ching Nam 11-5, 11-2, 11-7; Reeth Rishya beat England’s Charlotte Bardsley 11-8, 10-12, 11-6, 12-10, 11-3.
Men’s doubles (Round of 32): Harmeet Desai/Sanil Shetty of Cyprus 11-6, 11-5, 11-1; Sharath Kamal/Sathiyan Gnansekaran beat Alleyne Joel/ van Lange Jonathan 11-2, 11-5, 11-6.
Para table tennis: Paralympics silver medallist Bhavina Patel cruised to a 3-0 win over Akanisi Latu of Fiji in a Class 3-5 group match.
