Four-gold haul by men shooters, wrestlers keeps India at no. 2

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New Delhi, Oct 9, (DHNS): India’s high-flying marksmen and freestyle grapplers kept India just ahead of England with a four-gold haul in their fierce contest to grab the second spot behind front runners Australia in the Commonmwealth Games today.

Rifle ace Gagan Narang, centre fire pistol-wielding pair Vijay Kumar and Harpreet Singh and wrestlers Yogeshwar Dutt (men’s 60kg) and Narsingh Pancham Yadav (men’s 74kg) snapped up gold medals in imressive fashion to take the host country’s gold tally to 24.

India’s second-highest gold medal tally in Games history, which was six short of the record 30 at Manchester in 2002, also kept India in front of England (23) on a day of fluctuating fortunes in the bitter fight for the no. 2 place.

Sania Mirza, India’s best bet in women’s singles, won the silver medal when she lost to Australia’s Anastasia Rodionova in three sets in the final. India also scooped up three bronze medals and their tally was 24-17-15 while England’s was 23-40-27 with still a lot of action remaining on the sixth day, just past the halfway mark of the Games. Australia were far ahead with 53-28-30.

Hyderabad-based Narang, who has been the pick of the shooters at the Dr Karni range, added the men’s 50m rifle 3-position gold medal to the 25m centre fire pistol men’s pair gold claimed by Kumar and Harpreet earlier in the day.

It was also Narang’s fourth gold of the meet, made with a Games record aggregate 1262.2, was one short of Samaresh Jung’s five-gold feat in 2006 at Melbourne. He has the chance to overhaul Jung’s record haul on October 12 and 13 in the 50m prone (pairs and individual) event and become the new "Gold Finger".

Kumar and Harpreet won the pistol event with a total effort of 1159, well short of Jaspal Rana-Ashok Pandit’s 1168 made in Victoria (Canada) in 1994. India won bronze too at the same range, when Suma Shirur and Kavita Yadav stood third in the women’s 10m air rifle pairs event logging 785.

In all, the shooters have secured 21 medals (12-7-2), five short of the record 26 gained at Melbourne in 2006. Grappler Yogeshwar Dutt defeated Canada’s James Mancini 9-2 in the 60kg freestyle gold medal bout while Yadav beat South Africa’s Richard Bri Addinall in the 74 kg title-deciding fight.

The other two bronze medals that came India’s way during the day were grabbed by 20km walker Harminder Singh in a carer-best 1 hour, 23 minutes, 28 seconds in the men’s road event, and the men’s table tennis outfit which blanked Nigeria 3-0 in the bronze medal tie.

India, one ahead of England in the gold tally going into the sixth day of competitions, saw the latter nose ahead when 20km woman walker Jo Jackson gave an early morning impetus to their surge by clinching the event in 1 hour, 34 minutes and 22 seconds.

The hosts plucked an unexpected bronze in the 20km walk for men held simultaneously on the roads of Central Delhi when Harminder Singh finished a creditable third behind Aussies Jarred Tallent, winner of two walk medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and Luke Adams in a career best 1:23:28.

After the walk gold, England moved up the pecking order because of the larger number of silverware won, but as has been the custom in these Games the country’s marksmen responded in splendid fashion to put India ahead in the gold tally.

On the wrestling mat, freestyle exponents Yogeshwar Dutt (men’s 60kg) and Narsingh Pancham Yadav (men’s 74kg) entered the final after beating England’s Sasha Madyarchyk and Canada’s Evan MacDonald in the semi finals respectively before clinching the gold.

Another wrestler, Anil Maan (96kg) lost his preliminary bout to Leon Gregor Rattigan of England.

In boxing, Asian champion Suranjoy Singh (52kg) and Amandeep Singh (49kg) assured India of at least two medals by advancing to the semifinals with contrasting wins. Continuing their unbeaten run at the ongoing event, Amandeep and Suranjoy defeated Muhammad Fuad nd Mohammad Subrie -- both from Malaysia -- 7-1 and 9-2 respectively to assure themselves of their maiden medals in the Games.

Amandeep will now face Ireland’s Paddy Barnes, who beat Australian Andrew Moloney 5-3 in a tense quarterfinal bout. Suranjoy, on the other hand, has set up an India-Pakistan match against Haroon Iqbal. The Britain-based Iqbal, who is representing Pakistan after failing to get the nod for the English team, was tied 3-3 with Welshman Andrew Selby after the regulation three rounds but won the bout on countback.

"I am very happy to have assured myself of my first Commonwealth Games medal but the task would not be complete till I get the gold," Amandeep, a Commonwealth Championship gold medallist, said after his bout.

"Once I got a hang of how he plays, it was not too tough for me," 24-year-old Suranjoy said after reaching the last four. There was disappointment for India in the women’s 20km walk in which Rani Yadav was the best-placed at sixth after clocking 1:42:54. Another Indian Sandhya Jolly finished eighth in 1:51:44, while Deepmala Devi failed to finish the race and ended up bottom of the heap.

The Games organisers, facing flak all round for the mess in the sale of tickets, were given a strong tick-off by the Commonwealth Games Federation which today launched an investigation into the complaints of unavailability of tickets by people despite empty seats at some stadiums.

CGF chief Michael Fennell made his unhappiness clear when he intervened Organising Committee Secretary General Lalit Bhanot answering a question on ticketing issue and said that in a meeting today it was decided the matter would be investigated and report submitted by tomorrow.

In an on-field controversy Malaysian striker Faizal Saari was suspended for two matches after he was found guilty of deliberately hitting a Scotland player during a pool match in the men’s hockey event.

Saari was penalised after television replays caught him striking Scotland goalkeeper Alister McGregor on the back of his thigh during their 2-0 win in a Pool A match last night. The suspension drew curtains to young Saari’s campaign in the Games after Malaysia went out of the semifinal race having lost to India and Pakistan in their earlier matches.

The two on-pitch umpires for the match, Richmond Attipoe (Ghana) and Albert Marcano (Trinidad) missed the incident but Saari’s suspension was confirmed by a statement from technical delegate David Collier.

Australia hockey coach Ric Charlesworth also slammed the organisers of the event for scheduling matches in searing heat by terming the programme as "crazy". Charlesworth slammed the organisers after the world champions sweated to overcame a spirited Pakistan 1-0 win in a Pool A match today with the mercury rising above 32 degree celcius at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.

"The heat played a big factor today. It was very tough. It was difficult for the guys to play under such hot conditions. The semi-finals will be played at 11 am in the morning and I think it is crazy," the Australian hockey legend said after his side sailed into the semi finals with a match in hand.

Courtesy: Deccan Herald