It was expected that Sindhu, Lakshya Sen and the formidable pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy would rise to the top of the podium, but 40-year-old Sharath Kamal had a gold medal-winning show against one. Equally good opponent in Liam Pitchford.
That performance took India’s gold medal tally to 22, four less than the 2018 edition, but this time the sport of shooting was missing from the roster. The shooters had contributed seven golds to the Gold Coast’s 66 medals race, and given that, India certainly put up a decent show.
However, with Australia thrashing the men’s hockey team 0-7, when at least a spirited fight was expected, the game ended on a somewhat disappointing note.
The way India conceded defeat took away the joy of silver medal.
India got 22 gold, 16 silver and 23 bronze in the final tally and were behind third-placed Canada, who were ahead with 92 medals (26-32-34). Australia (67-57-54) finished on top ahead of hosts England (57-66-53).
Coming back to TT, Sharath and G Sathiyan lost to England’s Pitchford and Paul Drinkhall in the men’s doubles gold medal match, but both the Indians took their revenge on Monday.
Sathiyan then thrashed Drinkhall 11-9 11-3 11-5 8-1 9-11 10-12 11-9 in a thrilling bronze play-off.
Sharath defeated the 29-year-old agile-legged Briton 11-13 11-7 11-2 11-6 11-8 to win his second Commonwealth Games singles gold in 16 years. He won the singles title at the 2006 Melbourne Games.
Superstar will return with paddler
With a rich run of four medals, he won the men’s team and mixed team gold, in addition to silver in the men’s doubles.
With Monday’s sensational gold, Sharath has taken his total tally of medals at the Commonwealth Games to 13 since making his debut at the Games in 2006.
The final day of the Games began with superstar Sindhu adding a Commonwealth Games gold medal to her already piling up collection with a straight game win over Canada’s Michelle Lee.
India’s world number 7 defeated her 13th-ranked rival 21-15, 21-13 in front of a packed crowd at the NEC grounds.
Sindhu said after the final, “I was waiting for this gold for a long time and finally I got it. I am very happy. Thanks to the crowd, they got me the win today.”
Later, 10th-ranked Sen came in from behind to end Ng Tze Yong’s giant-killing race in the competition. The 20-year-old defeated the world number 42 from Malaysia 19-21, 21-9, 21-16.
Sen put up his best attack in the decider and led till the end. Yong tried his best to make a comeback, but Sen remained unstoppable. He converted his first match point after a long rally, leading to a frenzied celebration that saw him throw his racket into the stands.
“It was tense in the beginning, I had to work really hard. Yong also played a great tournament. Congratulations to him too,” Sen said after the tough fight.
India’s star doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy defeated England’s Ben Lane and Sean Mendy in straight games to win the country’s third gold medal from the badminton court at the Commonwealth Games.
The Indian pair won 21-15, 21-13.
Thus India ended a stellar badminton campaign with three gold, one silver and two bronze.
While shuttlers and paddlers dazzled, Australia blew India away in hockey with their quick pace and consistent attacks, increasing their dominance in the games.
Since the introduction of hockey in the Games in 1998, Australia has always been on top of the podium.
This is India’s third loss against Australia in the CWG final, having lost to them in the 2010 and 2014 editions of the Games.
Nathan Ephrams and Tom Wickham scored a goal each, while Blake Gowers, Jacob Anderson and Flynn Ogilvy also found the net in a one-sided contest.
It was a far cry from what was expected in the gold medal bout as Australia took the game away from India with five goals in the first half.
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