Commonwealth Games 2018, Gold Coast: Sandhu, Malhotra advance in squash events

Gold Coast: It was a good start for India in squash as Harinderpal Sandhu and Vikram Malhotra notched up comfortable wins against their respective opponents in the men's singles round-of-64 matches at the Commonwealth Games 2018, Gold Coast here on Thursday.

Sandhu, a former national champion, defeated Cameron Stafford of Cayman Islands 3-1 to qualify for the round-of-32 while Malhotra took 23 minutes to outplay Manda Chilambwe of Zambia 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-2) at the Oxenford Studios here. 

It was a lop-sided match for Malhotra as he wrapped up the first two games in just nine minutes and last game in five minutes.

Earlier, world champion weightlifter Mirabai Chanu (48kg) went on a record-smashing spree, claiming three of them in a power-packed performance, to secure India's first gold medal at the 21st Commonwealth Games here on Thursday.

In a remarkable performance, Chanu smashed the Commonwealth and the Games record in a snatch, pulling off clean lifts in all her three attempts (80kg, 84kg and 86kg).

She then lifted more than double her body weight (103kg, 107kg and 110kg) in three successful attempts to claim the clean and jerk as well as the overall Games record.

The showing helped her better the silver she had won in the 2014 Glasgow CWG.

The Indian ended with a score of 196kg (86kg+110kg), earning a massive applause from the fans at the Carrara Sports and Leisure Centre.

The 23-year-old's previous best was a total lift of 194kg (snatch 85kg and 109kg in clean and jerk) achieved in the World Championships a few months ago.

Her nearest but still a very distant rival, Amanda Braddock of Canada failed to complete a single lift in the clean and jerk after managing a best of 76kg in a snatch.

Weightlifter P Gururaja also claimed a silver medal in the men's 56kg event to open India's medal account in the quadrennial extravaganza. 

(With IANS inputs)