CWG 2022, Day 5 blog: Gold in men’s TT & lawn bowls; silver for Sindhu & Co, Vikas Thakur in lifting

Key updates:

• Lawn bowls: GOLD! Indian women’s fours (Lovely Choubey, Pinki, Nayanmoni Saikia and Rupa Rani Tirkey) win historic gold medal, the country’s first ever in the sport at CWG.
• Table tennis: GOLD! Indian men defeat Singapore 3-1 to retain their title from 2018.
• Weightlifting: SILVER! Vikas Thakur wins silver in men’s 96kg final with a total lift of 346kg.
• Badminton: SILVER! Sindhu wins her match but Malaysia win MD, MS, WD to reclaim mixed team gold. India finish 2nd after a brilliant final.
• Boxing: Rohit Tokas reaches quarterfinal. 
• Athletics: Sreeshankar qualifies for long jump final with one attempt of 8.05m. Yahiya too follows him, with a 7.68m placing him 8th overall.
• Hockey: India suffered a 3-1 defeat against England in Women’s Pool A match, face pressure match versus Canada next.
• Athletics: Manpreet Kaur reaches Shot Put final
• Athletics: Seema Punia, Navjeet Dhillon finish outside medals
• Weightlifting: Punam Yadav, Usha finish outside medals.
• Squash: Sourav Ghosal bows out in singles semis. To play for bronze.
• Swimming: Srihari finishes a fine campaign with a new NR in 200m backstroke

Badminton: Just a quick personal point of view to wrap up the badminton coverage for the night, seeing as Srikanth is receiving criticism. Should he have won that match? Yes, absolutely. Would Lakshya have won that match? Yes, perhaps. Was it wrong to play Srikanth in that match? Absolutely not. All those sentiments can be true, simultaneously. Credit to Ng Tze Yong who just played out of his skin. Credit to Malaysia for packing the squad with doubles players to make sure they had three matches in their kitty more often than not.

Anyway, here’s a happy Indian team on the podium. Sindhu received the loudest roar.

Swimming: A quick swimming update at the end via SAI

Srihari Nataraj at the Commonwealth Games 2022

- 7th in the Men’s 100m Backstroke final with a time of 54.31.
- 5th with a time of 25.23 in the Men’s 50m backstroke final.
- 9th (reserve list in the final) of the Men’s 200m backstroke final with a NR time of 2:00.84

This has been the best ever performance in Commonwealth Games by an able-bodied Indian swimmer

Athletics, Women’s discus throw final: The first athletics final featuring Indians finishes without a medal. Two medallists from 2018, Seema and Navjeet finish 5th and 8th here in Birmingham. (Potentially the last we have seen of CWG legend for Indian athletics, Seema Punia).

Seema Punia: 52.28, 55.92, 52.30, X, X, 53.81

Navjeet Dhillon: 50.95, 53.14, X, 52.21, 52.46, 53.51

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-2 Malaysia: (Doubles 0-1) There comes the pressure. Thinaah now dominating. 2 point away. And now Gayatri with a return error. Gold medal points. Three.

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-2 Malaysia: (Doubles 0-1) The Indians are not going away without a fight. Two superb points from them. It is a 1-point game now! Come on. 17-18.

Athletics, Women’s discus throw final: The pressure is on both Indians now, outside podium places. And both of them don’t improve their marks with the 5th attempts. One go left. The bronze mark is 56.99.

Seema Punia: 52.28, 55.92, 52.30, X, X

Navjeet Dhillon: 50.95, 53.14, X, 52.21, 52.46

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-2 Malaysia: (Doubles 0-1) Tan needs some treatment on her ankle. Seemed to sit on it while playing a point.Carrying on, of course. MAS 17-13..

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-2 Malaysia: (Doubles 0-1) The scores for the tie in the previous updates have been corrected. Malaysia lead 2-1 of course. And a couple of really good points now for Treesa/Gayatri to make it 13-17.

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-2 Malaysia: (Doubles 0-1) Trying too hard to close out points. The scoreboard pressure resulting in errors. The gold is nearly Malaysia’s. 16-10.

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-1 Malaysia: (Doubles 0-1) And jus like that, from 8-8 to 14-8. The point just before the interval was sensational from Thinaah. Gayatri thought the point was over and the forehand block surprised her at the net. Instead of 9-10 it was 11-8. Indians haven’t won a point since.

Athletics, Women’s discus throw final: We are indeed down to the last 8 now and both Indians still in the fray. Navjeet with 52.21, doesn’t improve. Australia’s Taryn GOLLSHEWSKY has pushed Seema out of the top three. And the veteran Seema fouls next.

Seema Punia: 52.28, 55.92, 52.30, X

Navjeet Dhillon: 50.95, 53.14, X, 52.21

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-1 Malaysia: (Doubles 0-1) A sensational rally! Treesa wins the point and the Indians are ecstatic. 3-3 in the 2nd game game soon after. Make it 4-4 as Gayatri play a stunning block for a winner.

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-2 Malaysia: (Doubles 0-1) A game of fine margins as the commentators say. Honestly, it shouldn’t have come on these two in a must-win match but it is what it is. They are giving a good account of themselves.

Athletics, Women’s discus throw final: Three attempts done. Seema remains in third place. Navjeet not able to improve. I think we will now lose those outside top 8, just waiting to confirm that. Both Indians should make the cut either way for all six attempts.

Seema Punia: 52.28, 55.92, 52.30

Navjeet Dhillon: 50.95, 53.14, X

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-2 Malaysia: (Doubles 0-1) Two game points for MAS after a bit of confusion on the Indian side. Great defence by Gayatri but later she sends the lift over.

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-2 Malaysia: (Doubles 0-0) There is a sign of hope for India at 16-18 but T/T bring the pressure and close out the point. And then Treesa with all her power makes it 17-19. Gayatri’s serve. Error from Tan! Trying to be too clever. NERVESSS! (Ashwini is warming up in the background)

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-2 Malaysia: (Doubles 0-0) Tan is an artist when it goes to deception. In WD most rallies are about stamina often but she is truly one of the most skillful around. Watch out for her slices. 17-13.

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-2 Malaysia: (Doubles 0-0) Treesa is a bundle of energy at the moment. Thinaah/Tan though are just that much more composed in their rallies. 14-12 for MAS. Close enough.

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-2 Malaysia: (Doubles 0-0) Ng Tze Yong pulled off a huge upset for Malaysia. Now can Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand do it for India? They have to beat the women’s doubles top seeds Tan/Thinaah. The opening game has showed the Indian teenagers are up for the fight. Some roars, some great rallies but the Malaysians are one of the form pairs on the Tour. They lead 12-9.

Athletics, Women’s discus throw final: The throws are not really travelling for anyone so far it looks like. Seema is placed third with her 55.92. Dhillon 7th.

Seema Punia: 52.28, 55.92

Navjeet Dhillon: 50.95, 53.14

Athletics, Women’s discus throw final: Gold Coast 2018 silver and bronze medalists Seema Punia and Navjeet Kaur Dhillon are in action.

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-2 Malaysia: (Singles 1-2) ABSOLUTE THRILLER. Ng Tze Yong plays possibly the match of his life to defeat Srikanth in three games. Some of the rallies were truly remarkable. Sri’s errors proved costly in the end.

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-1 Malaysia: (Singles 1-1) That clear to the Srikanth’s deep forehand has just been killer for Ng. WHAT A RALLY. Sri did so well on defence early on. But 20-16. Match points.

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-1 Malaysia: (Singles 1-1) Two errors from Sri. Ng leads 19-15 and this could be decisive. But Sri gets the serve back with a fast point. Ng slows it down. 16-19 on Sri’s serve

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-1 Malaysia: (Singles 1-1) Tai Tzu Ying will be proud of that. A genius reverse slice by Sri. 15-17. Oh dear, and then makes an unforced error. Ng leads 18-15.

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-1 Malaysia: (Singles 1-1) Tremendous block from Ng! WOW! 17-14 to MAS.

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-1 Malaysia: (Singles 1-1) Two fabulous points from Sri. 14-16.

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-1 Malaysia: (Singles 1-1) Simply fabulous from Ng. Another super rally ends with a punch clear that lands in. Ng leads 15-12. Sri is playing alright, Ng is playing the match of his life.

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-1 Malaysia: (Singles 1-1) Srikanth was actually playing really well at the start of the decider but so is Ng. And a couple of errors by the Indian sees Malaysian take a 11-9 lead into the change of ends. NERVY! But soon after the interval, it is 11-11. Great review by Sri.

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-1 Malaysia: (Singles 1-1) Sensational rally from both players! Staying patient, moving front and back. Srikanth plays a couple of good net shots but tries far too acute an angle in the end and it lands wide. Ng Tze Yong goes into a 8-7 lead and then Sri with a super smash, 8-8. Coach Park cam would be great at the moment. He is so pumped.

Weightlifting, Women’s 87kg: Dilip updates – Usha got off to a solid start in the clean and jerk. Lifts 110kg with her first attempt and raises the weights to 115kg for her next lift. Actually, 116kg. Seemed like she got it. But the jury reviews the lift and deems it to be a failed attempt. She then comes out for her third lift and even though he clean was good, the jury rules that the jerk lift wasn’t technically sound. She finishes with a total of 205kg and is out of the medal contention.

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-1 Malaysia: (Singles 1-1) Srikanth responds very well and takes the 2nd game 21-6. When he gets on a run, he is hard to stop. Into the decider we go! Ng Tze Yong has played a lot this week. Will this impact him? Srikanth should be much fresher.

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-1 Malaysia: (Singles 0-1) Masterly at the net from Srikanth, and he is using the clears well to use his advantage at the net. A 11-5 lead for the Indian in the 2nd game interval.

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-1 Malaysia: (Singles 0-1) More desperation from Srikanth. It is the need of the hour too. He has raced to a 8-2 lead here.

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-1 Malaysia: (Singles 0-1) How good is that from Sri at the net! He makes it 19-19. Srikanth then misjudges a leave off a body attackk. Game point Ng... and he has converted it. The Malaysian is pumped up! A huge lead this for the Malaysians in the match. 21-19.

Samreen: Rohit Tokas wins by a 5-0 UD against Kotey and qualifies for the men’s 67kg quarterfinal. Much more convincing in the last two rounds from the Indian pugilist after a slowish start.

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-1 Malaysia: (Singles 0-0) Huge point for Srikanth, nice round the head smash. 17-18.

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-1 Malaysia: (Singles 0-0) This has been an absolutely sensational game once again. Both players trading blows. A stunning rally at 14-15 goes Srikanth’s way despite some amazing gets by Ng. He sneaks ahead 17-16 soon after... 18-16. Srikanth under pressure.

Boxing, Men’s 67kg R16, Rohit Tokas vs Alfred Kotey: Another quarterfinal for Indian boxing, the last couple of days have been good. A 5-0 for Tokas.

Weightlifting, Women’s 87kg: At the end of the snatch event, Usha is fifth with a best lift of 95kg. Australia’s Eileen Cikamatana, with an eight kilo lead, is the overwhelming favourite to clinch gold

Boxing update from Samreen:

R1 4:1 in favour of Tokas. The southpaw hasn’t entirely let the Indian get into rhythm though. Yet to see him in full force.

R2: Lots of grins and a ‘come on’ to entice his opponent. This time all five judges in favour of Tokas. He has been making Kotey chase him almost and landed cleaner punches against him in the process.

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-1 Malaysia: Men’s singles time. Srikanth has been rotated with Lakshya while Ng Tze Yong has played all matches. But the Malaysian youngster has come good in LZJ’s absence. This is their third meeting this year (and overall). Srikanth has had to play catch up for large parts but has a 11-10 lead at the interval.

Weightlifting, Women’s 87kg: Usha lifted 98kg but the jury ruled that it wasn’t a clean lift. She finishes snatch with a best lift of 95kg and is in a good position to fight for a podium place

Boxing, Men’s 67kg R16, Rohit Tokas vs Alfred Kotey: The only boxing event including an Indian on Day 5 is the men’s 67kg Round of 16 bout between Rohit Tokas and Ghana’s Alfred Kotey.

Badminton mixed team final, India 1-1 Malaysia:
(Singles 2-0): PV Sindhu pulls India level. A superb fight by Goh Jin Wei but Sindhu found the answers every time she was pushed to the corner. Some breathtaking rallies in the match. 22-20, 21-17.

Weightlifting, Women’s 87kg: And Usha nails the 95kg lift with relative ease! She’ll try to lift 98kg with her last attempt

Badminton mixed team final, India 0-1 Malaysia: (Singles 1-0): Five match points Sindhu, one saved really well by Goh. Sindhu makes an error next.

Badminton mixed team final, India 0-1 Malaysia: (Singles 1-0) Incredible pace from Sindhu, and she is pumped. 19-14 just as Goh was threatening a min revival.

Weightlifting, Women’s 87kg: A good start for Usha as she effortlessly heaves 90kg with her first snatch lift. Will attempt 95 kg next.

Badminton mixed team final, India 0-1 Malaysia: (Singles 1-0) Sindhu has got her control back. The clears to the far court and the straight smashes are working well in setting up points. She is bouncing around the court now. 17-11.

Badminton mixed team final, India 0-1 Malaysia: (Singles 1-0) Sindhu has takes a 11-7 lead into the interval but she is having to work very very hard for the points. Goh still very much in this.

Women’s 87kg weightlifting: Update from Dilip – Usha Bannur will be in action soon and it will be a tough challenge for the Karnataka lifter with a very strong field on show. Reigning Commonwealth champion Canadian Kristel Ngarlem, Fiji-born Australian Eileen Cikamatana, Cameroon’s Clementine Meukeugni Noumbissi and England’s Emily Sweeney are all favourites to medal. Usha will need to lift way more than her season best 208 kg (95 snatch and 113kg c&j) to be in medal contention.

Badminton mixed team final, India 0-1 Malaysia: (Singles 1-0) The 50-second, 37-shot rally might have been the one at 19-19. Anyway, now it is 5-5 in the 2nd game. No hangover for Goh yet.

Badminton mixed team final, India 0-1 Malaysia: (Singles 1-0) What. A. Game! Sindhu was in complete control in the early stages, opened up a 18-12 lead. But Goh Jin Wei shows why she was (is) so highly rated by storming back. But Sindhu takes it 22-20!

Badminton mixed team final, India 0-1 Malaysia: (Singles 1-0) 22-20 for Sindhu!

Badminton mixed team final, India 0-1 Malaysia: (Singles 0-0) WHAT A RALLY! STUNNING POINT FROM BOTH SHUTTLERS. Back and forth, back and forth. Game point Sindhu 20-19. Goh makes it 20-20 with another super drop.

Badminton mixed team final, India 0-1 Malaysia: (Singles 0-0) Goh goes ahead 19-18. And then makes a service error. Quick roar from Sindhu. Wow how she needed that.

Badminton mixed team final, India 0-1 Malaysia: (Singles 0-0) Wow. Goh is moving around the court with swagger now. Five straight points. Make it six. From 12-18 to 18-18.

Badminton mixed team final, India 0-1 Malaysia: (Singles 0-0) Well, well. 16-18. Goh closes in.

Badminton mixed team final, India 0-1 Malaysia: (Singles 0-0) Goh starting to dictate tempo now. The precision in her smashes are superb. And she is finding great angles. Sindhu on the backfoot, but still ahead 18-15.

Badminton mixed team final, India 0-1 Malaysia: (Singles 0-0) A quick little roar from Sindhu as she made it 18-12 after a couple of good points by Goh. The slices and drops are starting to work for the youngster.

Badminton mixed team final, India 0-1 Malaysia: (Singles 0-0) Sindhu dominant in the early stages. The height difference is obvious but it is also the power she packs. 11-6 in the opening game interval. The rallies have gotten longer since but she has a 16-10 lead now.

Badminton mixed team final, India 0-1 Malaysia: It’s PV Sindhu time! And she faces Goh Jin Wei, former two-time junior world champion on a comeback trail after stepping away from the game. Sindhu has a 2-0 H2H. Hugely important for India Sindhu wins this of course. But worth noting this is potentially the quarterfinal in women’s singles later on.

Badminton mixed team final, India 0-1 Malaysia: Soh/Chia extend their perfect record against Chirag/Satwik. 5-0 now. That was superb for the neutrals for the most part. But Sat/Chi have not managed to find a solution to their 2nd nemesis.

Badminton mixed team final, India 0-0 Malaysia: (Doubles 0-1) Soh with a super return. 19-15. Massive pressure next point from Soh and five match points.

Badminton mixed team final, India 0-0 Malaysia: (Doubles 0-1) Oh the net chord on the return! Serve back with MAS. 18-14. Now great point from Satwik. 15-18. They are staying in this.

Badminton mixed team final, India 0-0 Malaysia: (Doubles 0-1) Big point from Chirag. He gets the serve back with great net play. 14-17. Now or never territory.

Badminton mixed team final, India 0-0 Malaysia: (Doubles 0-1) A couple of points on the back of defence for Indians. They have closed to 13-16. But Aaron Chia is taking over this match at the moment. The Malaysians are close to wrapping this up.

Badminton mixed team final, India 0-0 Malaysia: (Doubles 0-1) Importantly the Indians won that point too. Closing the gap down but MAS have gone to 15-11 from 13-11.

Badminton mixed team final, India 0-0 Malaysia: (Doubles 0-1) Chia/Soh have opened a handy lead at 11-7 into the interval. But Aaron needs some magic spray for his lower back. Heavily strapped too.

Badminton mixed team final, India 0-0 Malaysia: (Doubles 0-1) The commentator, Langridge, reckons the Indians are starting to make a few more mistakes than they did in game 1.

Squash, women’s Plate semifinal: Sunayna Kuruvilla 3-0 Faiza Zafar Just an update from an earlier match, Sunayna Kuruvilla beat Faiza Zafar of Pakistan 11-2, 11-4, 11-5 to reach the Plate event final. (Not a medal event)

Badminton mixed team final, India 0-0 Malaysia: (Doubles 0-1) The great quality rallies are now ending with some errors from both sides actually. The Malaysians lead 6-4. Pressure starting to show?

Badminton mixed team final, India 0-0 Malaysia: (Doubles 0-1) Stunning rallies! The game seemed to be close to going India’s way at 18-15 but the Malaysians come storming back with 6 straight points. Brilliant from all four shuttlers really but Chia/Soh just too good when it mattered. 21-18.

Badminton mixed team final, India 0-0 Malaysia: (Doubles 0-0) Everything you’d expect from this men’s doubles match. Express rallies. Sensational reflexes. From 10-10, the Malaysians take a 1-point lead into the break.

Squash, Men’s singles SF, Saurav Ghosal 0-3 Paul Coll: That is the end of the men’s singles gold quest for Ghosal. Paul Coll rolls through to the final with a straight-games win, beating Ghosal 11-9, 11-4, 11-1. But Ghosal still has the bronze medal match to play in.

Squash, Men’s singles SF, Saurav Ghosal 0-2 Paul Coll: Paul Coll wins the second game 11-4. The Kiwi has started to turn the screws in this match, using his fitness and accurate shots into angles.

Badminton mixed team final, India vs Malaysia: Right then, time to focus on the big badminton match. The tie starts with a massive, massive men’s doubles clash. Satwik-Chirag have not beaten Aaron and Soh. Today would be a great day to do it. Malaysia have gone doubles heavy in their squad because the key to winning the team event is the three doubles matches. That’s where Sat-Chi have to bring their best.

Squash, Men’s singles SF, Saurav Ghosal 0-1 Paul Coll: Paul Coll with an outrageous get to close out the game at 11-9. A very, very tense game.

Squash, Men’s singles, semifinals: Saurav Ghosal vs Paul Coll: A very physical start to the game, but not in terms of argy-bargy. Both players staying patient to work the other but Coll has the upper hand.

Shahid Judge: Saurav Ghosal has never been past the semifinal at the Commonwealth Games in singles, but will have his work cut out as he takes on Paul Coll, the top seed and World No 2. Ghosal has lost each of the three matches the duo has played.

Saurav Ghosal, driven as ever to succeed, seeks golden gloss in Birmingham

Squash, Men’s singles, semifinals: Saurav Ghosal vs Paul Coll: Time for the big one from squash! The India No 1 vs the world No 2 and top seed from NZ.

Lawn bowls: What a couple of days it has been getting to know this sport and these amazing athletes who have kept at it all these years to now win a superb gold. Sport never ceases to surprise, and amazingly, educate. Even those of us in this industry on a daily basis have so much to learn.

CWG 2022 Table Tennis: Sharat, Sathiyan, Harmeet beat Singapore to defend men’s team title, win gold

Weightlifting, men’s 96kg final: VIKAS THAKUR WINS SILVER! Opeloge with a big, big 381 total. Games Record. Vikas Thakur takes silver with 346kg.

Table tennis, Men’s team final, India 2-1 Singapore: HE’S DONE IT! Harmeet Desai wins the title for India, beating Chew 11-8, 11-5, 11-6 to give India a 3-1 win over Singapore in the final

Weightlifting, men’s 96kg final: Vikas back for a second attempt. 191kg, done. Makes it look easy. And a big celebration at the end. Moves into the lead again. Looks good for at the very least a silver.

Weightlifting, men’s 96kg final: The Fiji athlete moves ahead of Vikas but he finishes with a total of 343kg, just one kg ahead of the Indian who has two C&J attempts left.

Weightlifting, men’s 96kg final: Vikas Thakur moves to the gold medal position for the moment with the 187kg lift in the first C&J attempt. But the deficit is quite something.

Table tennis, Men’s team final, India 2-1 Singapore: (Singles 1-0) Desai gets on the scoreboard with an 11-8 win in the first game. Two more games and India wins gold.

Hockey, Women’s Pool A, IND 1-3 ENG, FULL TIME: India get the consolation goal right at the death. Gurjit Kaur’s PC is deflected into goal by Vandana Katariya. Who knows, perhaps it could still come in handy. Another day, another case of not converting chances.

Hockey, Women’s Pool A, IND 0-3 ENG in Q4: It’s three for England now! Hannah Martin deflects Anna Toman’s drag-flick into goal. This is a performance that will (or must) sting Janneke & Co.

Shahid Judge with a quick byte: And Sathiyan has done it! Comes up with an important win over Koen Pang to put India 2-1 up in this tie. Harmeet Desai comes up now to try and win the title for India, but he’ll have to take on Clarence Chew, who put up a spirited performance to beat Achanta Sharath Kamal.

Table tennis, Men’s team final, India 2-1 Singapore: (Singles 2-1) SATHIYAN WINS. India back in front in this tie as Sathiyan beats Koen Pang 12-10, 7-11, 11-7, 11-4 to make it 2-1. One win away from retaining gold, the defending champions.

Shahid Judge: Sathiyan won eight points in a row to go up 8-1, and then conceded four in a row for a bit of a scare that Koen Pang may comeback in the third game. Eventually he holds his nerve to win it 11-7 and go up 2-1 in this third rubber of the tie. Excellent watch for the neutrals, this entire tie so far

Table tennis, Men’s team final, India 1-1 Singapore: (Singles 2-1) “Sathiyan had to work hard but was the better player in that game” says the commentator as the Indian wins the game 11-7 to go 2-1 up.

Weightlifting, men’s 96kg final: The end of the 96kg snatch round sees Samoa’s Don Opeloge with a 16kg lead! Vikas can aim for a podium finish but there’s also competition from England and Fiji. Will Vikas be able to catch up in C&J? (PS: This is what Mirabai must have made the other athletes feel)

Hockey, Women’s Pool A, IND 0-2 ENG in Q3: India had the momentum going into the third quarter but instead find themselves another goal down after England capitalised on Udita’s mistake in defence. The conversion worries continue to haunt them.

Hockey, Women’s Pool A, IND 0-2 ENG in Q3: Lalremsiami intercepts a pass and launches a counter attack. Vandana tries to slot the ball into goal but Hinch and defender Baldson do well to come away with the ball. Another set of PCs for India, this time Monika with a hit and it is wide again.

Hockey, Women’s Pool A, IND 0-2 ENG in Q3: GOAL ENG! England score again! Udita gives the ball away cheaply and Tess Howard dives in front of Savita to lift Sophie Hamilton’s shot into goal

Table tennis, Men’s team final, India 1-1 Singapore: (Singles 1-1) Koen Pang converts his lead this time, levelling the match by winning the second game 11-7.

Weightlifting, men’s 96kg final: PUMPED is what Vikas is feeling right now! Three out of three and just nails the third lift at 155kg. (Seems my colleague Samreen is pumped along with Vikas too!)

Table tennis, Men’s team final, India 1-1 Singapore: (Singles 1-0) Koen Pang, another left-hander, was threatening to run away with the first game, until Sathiyan overcame a 5-9 deficit to win the game 12-10. Super game.

Hockey, Women’s Pool A, IND 0-1 ENG at half time: We are back underway in the second half and India trail England by the solitary goal. Can they find their way back?

Hockey, Women’s Pool A, IND 0-1 ENG at half time: Much better from India in the 2nd quarter. Navneet Kaur and Salima Tete troubled English defence on the right and did everything but score. Positive end to the half for India

Weightlifting, men’s 96kg final: Gets the 2nd snatch too, does Vikas. Smooth and comfortable. A 4kg increase from the first lift and he successfully lifts 153kg in the second one. He is pumped and so perhaps a few more kgs in the tank surely.

Weightlifting, men’s 96kg final: A solid start for Vikas in the snatch round. Nails the first lift at 149kg with great comfort.

Table tennis, Men’s team final, India 1-1 Singapore: Well, well, well. Pressure on the defending champions. World No 133 beats World No 39 Achanta Sharath Kamal 11-7, 12-14, 11-3, 11-9 to level this tie for Singapore. From the highs of a stunning performance against Aruna Quadri, this will come as a shock to the Indian veteran. But he keeps his calm at the net. Knows there is one more shot for him.

Table tennis, Men’s team final, India 1-0 Singapore: (Singles 1-2): Two match points for SGP, Sharath saves on and the SGP management take a timeout. Uff, the tension.

Table tennis, Men’s team final, India 1-0 Singapore: (Singles 1-2): Clarence Chew is on the charge. Sharath needs a timeout. It’s 7-7 soon after.

Hockey, Women’s Pool A, IND 0-1 ENG in Q2: India win a PC and Deep Grace sends the ball towards goal hoping for a deflected goal. But not to be as Hinch puts in a diving save. India finally making inroads

Hockey, Women’s Pool A, IND 0-1 ENG in Q2: A wasted opportunity for India. They win the ball in the English half and a launch a counter. Jyoti should have taken a shot but instead cuts the ball back and the chance is gone

Hockey, Women’s Pool A, IND 0-1 ENG end of Q1: Monika does well to win India a PC with 7 seconds to go and that is the first PC England have conceded in the tournament. Solid save from Hinch and that is the end of the first quarter

Table tennis, Men’s team final, India 1-0 Singapore: (Singles 1-2) Hardly a reaction from Clarence Chew as he ran away with the third game 11-3, going up 2-1 against Sharath Kamal.

Table tennis, Men’s team final, India 1-0 Singapore: (Singles 1-1) Clarence Chew saves multiple game points but Sharath still manages to hold on and level proceedings in the match, winning the second game 14-12.

Lawn bowls, women’s fours FINAL, IND 15-10 RSA after End 14: WHAT AN END FOR INDIA! Three points and they lead by 3 with ONE END TO GO.

Table tennis, Men’s team final, India 1-0 Singapore: (Singles 0-1): Clarence Chew needed to punch above his weight to get anything out of this match, and he has done just that in the opening game, winning it 11-7 against Sharath Kamal

Hockey, Women’s Pool A, IND 0-1 ENG: England score! They missed their first PC but got a second one soon. The injection is poor but Giselle Ansley does well to fire in a powerful shot which is deflected past Savita in goal

Table tennis, Men’s team final, India 1-0 Singapore: (Doubles 3-0) India in the lead! The match started off tight, but then Harmeet Desai and Sathiyan started to turn the screws, winning 13-11, 11-7, 11-5. The holder of 8 CWG medals Sharath Kamal takes on Singapore’s Clarence Chew

Weightlifting, men’s 96kg final preview by Dilip Unnikrishnan: Vikas Thakur will be among the medal contenders in a what will be a very closely-fought 96kg weightlifting final. He had won bronze in the 94kg event at Gold Coast and could find himself on the podium today as well. Curiously, Canada’s Boady Santavy, who was among the entry list for the competition, is nowhere to be seen in the start list. Santavy finished fourth in Tokyo last year and if he is not in the contest, it could well be a three-way battle for gold between Thakur, Commonwealth Championships silver medalist Antonis Martasidis and England’s Cyrille Tchatchet II. Samoa’s 23-year-old Don Opeloge is the wildcard today. Opeloge won silver four years ago in the 85kg event and then won gold at the 2019 Commonwealth Championships in the 89kg event. He missed out on going for the Tokyo Olympics after the Samoan government barred their lifters from travelling due to concerns about the rising COVID-19 numbers in Japan.

Hockey, Women’s Pool A, IND-END: The Indian women’s team will shortly play England in a match which will likely decide who tops Pool A. Both teams are unbeaten having won their opening two matches

Lawn bowls, women’s fours FINAL, IND 10-10 RSA after End 12: A great end for India thanks to their Skip again! Finally they have moved on from 8. We are all level.

Table tennis, Men’s team final, India 0-0 Singapore: (Doubles 2-0) Efficient play from the Indians, as Desai and Sathiyan win the second game 11-7 to go 2-0 up in the opening match of this final

Table tennis, Men’s team final, India 0-0 Singapore: (Doubles 1-0) Pretty close in the first game as Desai and Sathiyan win it 13-11 with both teams saving game points. Still all to play for.

Badminton mixed team final, India vs Malaysia: Lineup is here, folks! Not surprisingly perhaps, Srikanth replaces Lakshya today. The Indian youngster had a gruelling (if two game) battle against Loh last night, so makes sense. Satwik once again nominated for MD and XD and so the tie begins with a huge men’s doubles tie between Chia/Soh and Sat/Chi. If the Indians can find their first win against the Malaysian pair, will be a big boost. 10.00 pm start. Malaysia’s huge strength at these Games is doubles and that’s the match up India will want to win.

Lawn bowls, women’s fours FINAL, IND 8-10 RSA after End 11: It’s all South Africa at the moment. Another two points in the 11th end. With four Ends left, time running out for India. Can they fight back from here?

Lawn bowls, women’s fours FINAL, IND 8-8 RSA after End 10: Are South Africa doing to India what India did to New Zealand yesterday in the semifinal? From 2-8 to 8-8! The 2018 silver medallists have fought back superbly.

Lawn bowls, women’s fours FINAL, IND 8-6 RSA after End 9: Another end for South Africa. They looked like they could get three from this, but a fast bowl from Rupa Rani Tirkey at the end pushes the jack and it is 2 to RSA.

Table tennis, Men’s team final, India vs Singapore: Shahid Judge sets it up for us. Match starts at 6.00 pm (correction):

It all comes down to this. Singapore came up with an upset win in the semifinal over England, and India has stormed through every opponent so far – including Singapore in the group stage. As the two countries vie for the gold medal in the men’s team event final, defending champions India are still the favourites, but Singapore just proved a day earlier that they’re ready to punch above their weight. 

In the opening doubles match, singles World No 121 Harmeet Desai and No 35 Gnanasekaran Sathiyan (the World No 35 pair) take on Singapore’s No 210 Izaac Quek and No 117 Yew En Koen Pang. In the second rubber, World No 133 Clarence Chew plays No 39 Achanta Sharath Kamal. Sathiyan then gets back to the table for the third rubber against Pang. If required, Desai will play the fourth match against Chew, and Sharath will play Quek in the fifth.

Lawn bowls, women’s fours FINAL, IND 8-4 RSA after End 8: SA are closing the gap. A 2-point round for South Africa (could actually have been more but Rupa Rani Tirkey dislodged the jack towards the end). Decent damage limitation

Artistic Gymnastics apparatus finals are underway, and none of the two Indians are in the start list from reserves.

Lawn bowls, women’s fours FINAL, IND 7-2 RSA after End 7: One-point end for Indians and they build on their lead steadily. Nearly halfway through and this is good stuff. But they’d know all too well a comeback is possible as they did to NZ yesterday.

Athletics, Women’s 100m: Dutee Chand finishes 4th in Heat 5 and that is just outside the automatic spots to progress. Her timing is 11.55s and that won’t be enough for the non-automatic spots either.

Lawn bowls, women’s fours FINAL, IND 7-2 RSA after End 6: Super stuff. A three-point End 6 for Indians and they go up 7-2.

Athletics, women’s 100m heats: Dutee Chand’s heat is about to come up. Qualification Rules: First 3 in each heat (Q) and the next 3 fastest (q) advance to the Semifinals

Lawn bowls, women’s fours FINAL, IND 4-2 RSA after End 5: India have a two-point lead of 4-2 after End 5. South Africa had the advantage but Rupa Rani Tirkey turned things around with her last bowl.

Swimming, men’s 1500m freestyle: Advait Page and Khushagra Rawat are through to the final. 10 swimmers registered a time, the top 8 made it through. The Indians were 7th & 8th respectively. Final is on Wednesday.

Lawn bowls, women’s fours FINAL, IND 3-2 RSA after End 4: India get a point and take a 3-2 lead after End 4 with Nayanmoni Saikia first disturbing the jack from the set position to take it deep and Rupa Rani Tirkey making the crucial play at the end.

Lawn bowls, women’s fours FINAL, IND 2-2 RSA after End 3: India started End 3 strong thanks to Lovely Choubey and closed it out with a point to draw level at 2-2. Just held a good position from early on.

Lawn bowls, women’s fours FINAL, IND 1-2 RSA after End 2: Corrected score.

Lawn bowls, women’s fours FINAL, IND 1-2 RSA: South Africa get a fortunate edge with their last bowl and that gives them two points and the lead after End 2.

Lawn bowls, women’s fours FINAL, IND -1-0 RSA: After End 1, India have the lead with Rupa Rani Tirkey and Co starting strong. Saikia set it up nicely for the Skip after what seemed like RSA’s End to start.

Lawn bowls: Time for India vs South Africa final in women’s fours. The Indian team just played the sectional rounds triples and pairs before this final. One win and one loss in those.

Athletics, women’s shot put qualification: Spare a thought for Trevia Gumbs from British Virgin Islands who finished 13th and was the sole athlete to miss out on a final. India’s Manpreet Kaur is through to the final in 7th place.

Weightlifting, women’s 76kg: Ok, the silver lining to the cloud surrounding Punam Yadav is even that 116 with her 3rd attempt won’t have been enough for podium as things stand with the favourite yet to lift. And two others ahead of 214kg total that the Indian would have ended up with.

Weightlifting, women’s 76kg: OH NO! Punam seems to have put the barbell down before the down signal buzzer and the commentator calls it a school level error. This means she’s out of contention. She successfully lifted 116kg in the third attempt but it’s a no lift! Indian officials play their appeal card and it is overturned. End of campaign with 98kg in snatch but no total. That’s a big disappointment for the 2018 gold medallist.

Athletics, women’s shot put qualification: We just realised there are only 13 athletes in this event. Not sure why a qualification was even required.

Weightlifting, women’s 76kg: Three reds for Punam Yadav with her 2nd C&J of 116. She is frustrated. Comes back immediately for the third. Must not miss.

Weightlifting, women’s 76kg: Three reds for Punam Yadav with her first C&J of 116.

Athletics, women’s shot put qualification: According to World Athletics Manpreet Kaur’s PB is 17.15m. This is weird. Not sure why the CWG site has it over 18m. She finishes with a best of 16.78m. We will wait for the final list.

By the way, it would seem Srihari indeed broke his own NR.

Athletics, women’s shot put qualification: Manpreet Kaur in action. Her PB is 18.86, SB is 18.06. Her first throw is 15.83m. Well below the automatic work. Qualifying performance 18.00 (Q) or at least 12 best performers (q) advance to the Final.

Athletics, Men’s long jump qualification: Official. M Sreeshankar and Muhammed Anees Yahiya qualify for the long jump final. Sreeshankar was the only jumper to clear the 8m qualifying standard with an 8.05m jump. Anees qualified with a best jump of 7.68m.

Swimming 200m Backstroke: Srihari Nataraj finishes with a timing of 2:00.84 in his heat and that has put him JUST OUTSIDE the top 8. He is the first reserve in 9th spot for the final. His timing might be a NR, but will confirm that once we hear from SAI. But what a Games it has been for him!

Weightlifting, women’s 76kg: That first attempt didn’t look promising but Punam now sitting nicely in podium places. Snatch done, C&J to follow. Maya Laylor, the 2021 commonwealth champion ahead of Punam, at the top. But missed two 105s to keep this close.

Athletics, Men’s long jump qualification: Yahiya has moved down to 8th now. Can only watch on for now.

Athletics, Men’s long jump qualification: Yahiya finishes with 7.49 again, quite a bit of resistance. But his 2nd should still take him through.

Weightlifting, women’s 76kg final: Sree is the only past 8 so far. Yahiya’s 2nd jump has put him 6th for now.

Weightlifting, women’s 76kg final: Punam is unsuccessful in her first snatch lift at 95kg, was a little bit lacking in energy, didn’t get going. But she nails her 2nd attempt. Much better and she gets the 95kg mark.

Athletics, Men’s long jump qualification: Better 2nd attempt by Yahiya, improves his mark to 7.68m. Still short of the 8m qualifying mark but in good position to make it to the final as one of the best performers

Athletics, Men’s long jump qualification: ONE AND DONE! Sreeshankar registers an 8.05m jump with his first attempt and qualifies for the final! The only jumper to go past the 8m qualifying mark so far

Athletics, Men’s long jump qualification: Yahiya goes first and registers 7.49m. His PB (which came this season) is 8.15m. Sreeshankar will be in action soon.

Athletics Men’s Long Jump, qualifying: M Sreesankar, Muhammed Anees Yahiya are in action here.

Weightlifting, women’s 76kg final: The event is underway with lower weights in Snatch. 95kg is the listed opening for Punam, who had won gold in 69kg in Gold Coast (and bronze in a lower category in 2014).

Punam Yadav past achievements:

1. 2021 Commonwealth Senior Championship  Silver Medalist
2. 2018 Commonwealth Games Gold Medalist
3. 2017 Commonwealth Championship  Silver Medalist
4. 2015 Commonwealth Championship  Gold Medalist
5. 2014 Commonwealth Games Bronze Medalist
6. 2014 Asian Junior Championship Bronze Medalist

— SAI

Quick explainer on the scoring for lawn bowls:

In case you are wondering how the lawn bowls scoring works, the objective is to get your bowl (or bowls) as close to the “jack” as possible. And then at the end of a round, a point is awarded to the player or team whose bowl is closest to the jack. And in case a team has more than one bowl closer to the jack than their opponents, the corresponding number of points will be awarded for the end.

— Scroll.in

Lawn bowls: The women’s triples team is leading in its Section C first round match against New Zealand at the moemnt, while the women’s pairs team is trailing against NZ in its Section B first round match.

Weightlifting: Next up for India on Day 5 will be Punam Yadav in the women’s 76kg final. Her event is scheduled to begin at 2 pm IST.

Indian long jump athlete M Sreeshankar is set to begin his campaign today. He has crossed the 8.00m mark at outdoor events six times this year overall. And he’ll be hoping to just a bit better than that mark, now that he’s finally getting to compete at his first Commonwealth Games. This is a chance for him to truly signal his arrival.

Read more by Shahid Judge here.

Lawn bowls: As has been the case each day so far in Birmingham, we begin with some lawn bowls action. Indians are currently competing in the women’s triples Section C first round and the women’s pairs Section B first round.

Hello and welcome to live updates of Indian athletes from day five of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

India won three medals, and assured themselves three more, on day four as athletes in judo, lawn bowls, weightlifting, badminton and table tennis excelled.

On day five, India will be eyeing another strong showing with the badminton mixed team and table tennis men’s team final scheduled. The women’s hockey team will also be in action, along with athletes in weightlifting, swimming, squash boxing, and more. Track and field events are also set to begin.

CWG 2022, Day 5 Schedule: Badminton, TT & lawn bowl teams in gold quest, track & field begins

Key updates of Indian athletes from Day 4:

Lawn bowls: India assured first-ever CWG medal in the sport as women’s fours team earns dramatic win over NZ in the semifinals.

Judo: Shushila Devi Likmabam wins -48kg silver, Vijay Kumar Yadav bags -60kg bronze.

Weightlifting: Harjinder Kaur wins bronze in the women’s 71kg event.

Boxing: Amit Panghal, Mohammed Hussamuddin, Ashish Kumar reach quarterfinals.

Badminton: Lakshya, Sindhu, Satwik-Chirag power India to a 3-0 win against Singapore and into the final. 

Table tennis: Defending champs Sharath, Sathiyan & Co beat Nigeria 3-0 to reach final and assure medal.

Hockey: A crazy match ends 4-4 as Manpreet & Co just about hang on in the end after going up 4-1 against England.

Squash: Joshna Chinappa out in QF, Saurav Ghosal reaches semifinal.

Gymnastics: Pranati Nayak finishes 5th in vault final.

Swimming: Srihari Nataraj finishes fifth in men’s 50m backstroke final.

Screenshots in the blog via CWG 2022 Games results website & Sony LIV