Mirabai Chanu stole the spotlight by winning her third consecutive Commonwealth Games gold medal in the women’s 48kg category. The Olympic silver medallist overcame an early missed attempt before delivering another masterclass, lifting a combined 190kg. She set a new Commonwealth Games record of 85kg in the snatch and followed it up with a successful 105kg clean and jerk to comfortably retain her title. The victory also gave Chanu her fourth Commonwealth Games medal, further cementing her place among India’s greatest weightlifters.
India’s weightlifting campaign received another boost through Rishikanta Singh, who claimed silver in the men’s 60kg category. The Manipuri lifter equalled the Commonwealth Games snatch record with 121kg before finishing with a total of 264kg. Raja Muthupandi completed India’s medal sweep in weightlifting by taking silver in the men’s 65kg division with a combined lift of 286kg, marking a successful return to the Commonwealth Games after missing the previous edition due to injury.
The boxing team continued to impress as Jadumani Singh produced a dominant display to defeat Pakistan’s Sumama Rehman by unanimous decision and reach the men’s 55kg quarter-finals. Preeti Pawar also advanced after forcing a referee-stopped contest against Malawi’s Deborah Mtenje in the women’s 54kg event. Aditya Pratap Yadav was the only Indian boxer to exit on the day, losing a closely fought split decision.
India also made progress in the pool, with the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay team of Srihari Nataraj, Aryan Nehra, Aneesh Gowda and Dhakshan Shashikumar qualifying for the final before finishing sixth.
It was a tougher outing in other disciplines. India’s lawn bowls campaign ended after defeats in the men’s singles and women’s pairs events, artistic gymnast Tapan Mohanty placed 15th in the men’s all-around final, and the women’s 3×3 wheelchair basketball team lost to Scotland.
Attention now shifts to Day 5, where India will be in action across athletics, boxing, weightlifting, gymnastics, swimming, lawn bowls and wheelchair basketball, with several medal opportunities on offer as the Games gather pace.
