Women script medals History

She dedicates her medal to all Indians. Discus-thrower Krishna Poonia, the first Indian woman to claim CWG gold in athletics and only the second from this country after Milkha Singh in Cardiff 1958 to rule the podium in a track-and-field discipline, belongs to that rare breed called jinx-breaker. That Harwant Kaur (silver) and Seema Antil (bronze) flanked her as the Tricolour and crowd rose on a floodlit evening brought to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium this rarest of rare sights: a 1-2-3 by the Bharatiya nari in international competition… on a day when gold eluded India’s male athletes.

Monday had numerous success stories. And yet, there was disappointment both for this festival of sport and the host nation. If what till now had held promise of being the ‘Clean Games’ was sullied by Nigerian 100m winner Oludamola Osayemi failing a drug test – the first such instance in Delhi 2010 -- and being provisionally suspended, India’s boxers, of whom more was expected, faltered in the semis. Amandeep Singh (49kg), Jai Bhagwan (60kg), Dilbag Singh (69kg) and world number 1 Vijender Singh (75 kg) — penalised points in a bout during which both he and the home federation insist he was the victim of harsh refereeing — finished with bronze. As did shooters Tejaswini Sawant-Meena Kumari in the 50m rifle prone (pairs).

However, there is nothing disappointing about this detail: with 81 medals, 30 of these gold, as at Manchester 2002, the record run continues. This is India’s all-time best performance at the CWG.

India's Harwant Kaur (silver), Krishna Poonia (gold) and Seema Antil (bronze) celebrate during the discus women medal ceremony of the Track and Field competition of the XIX Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. Krishna Poonia led an Indian clean sweep in the women's discus final, winning the Commonwealth Games gold medal with a throw of 61.51 metres. Harwant Kaur came second (60.16) and Seema Antil was third (58.46).

India's Harwant Kaur (silver)

India's Seema Antil (bronze)

Indian women shooters Hina Sidhu and Annu Raj Singh brought 31st Gold for India in the Commonwealth Games 2010 on Tuesday.

Hina and Annu shot Gold in the 10 m air pistol pairs event. This is the best performance by Hina and Annu in the CWG 2010. Hina and Annu scored 759 points.

Earlier, Indian shooters also won two silver medals in different events. Tejaswani Rawat claimed Silver medal in 50 m rifle prone event. Pair of Chandrashekhar and Samresh Jung won the Silver medal in 25m Standard pistol pairs.

India’s great run in the Commonwealth Games 2010 has been continued. The host country stands second in the CWG 2010 medal tally with 31 Gold medal, 25 Silver and 28 Bronze (Total- 84).