Commonwealth Games 2018, Gold Coast: Wrestler Pooja Dhanda takes silver in women's 57-kilogram wrestling

Image: TV Grab

Gold Coast: India's Pooja Dhanda finished with the silver medal in the women's 57-kilogram wrestling category at the 21st Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Australia's Gold Coast on Friday.

Pooja lost 5-7 to defending champion Odunayo Adekuoroye of Nigeria in the final.

After a fantastic show on Day 8, Team India began the Day 9 with a bang on Friday. Earlier, wrestler Bajrang Punia won a Gold - 17th for India - in Men's Freestyle 65 kg wrestling competition. Earlier, young Indian shooter Anish bagged a Gold for India in men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol.

The 16th gold for India came shortly after Indian shooters Tejaswini Sawant and Anjum Moudgil bagged a Gold and Silver respectively in women's 50m Rifle 3 final. Indian wrestler Pooja Dhanda, however, lost to her Nigerian opponent Odunayo to settle for a Silver. Divya Kakran too settled for a Bronze after decimating Bangladesh's Sherin Sultana in women's 68kg freestyle wrestling. India has so far claimed 17 Gold, 9 Silver and 12 Bronze, taking its total tally to 38. 

Here is the current medal count from the 21st edition of the 2018 CWG in Australia's Gold Coast. Australia, however, continues to dominate the tally with the maximum number of Gold (64) followed by England. India is third in the tally.

India's Medal Winners on Day 9

Bajrang Punia

Wrestler Bajrang Punia won a Gold - 17th for India - in Men's Freestyle 65 kg wrestling competition. He defeated his Welsh rival Kane Charig. 

Naman Tanwar 

Teenage boxer Naman Tanwar lost to crowd favourite Jason Whateley in another exciting contest in the heavyweight 91kg category to settle for a Bronze, taking India's total tally to 35. This was Naman's biggest performance since the bronze medal claimed at the youth world championships.

Anish Bhanala

Indian shooter Anish Bhanala created history by becoming the country's youngest ever gold medal winner at the Commonwealth Games. The teenager from Haryana achieved the feat when he stormed his way into the Gold medal with a Games record in the men's 25m rapid fire pistol event at the Belmont Shooting Centre.

Anish shot down the CWG record in the final with a score of 30 including four series of 5 each. The youngest in the field, he showed nerves of steel and led the more experienced shooters through the event to emerge deserving champion. Australia's Sergei Evglevski claimed the Silver with 28, while the Bronze medal went to Sam Gowin (17) of England. 

By winning the Gold, Anish bettered team-mate Manu Bhaker, who had become the youngest Indian Commonwealth Games gold medallist earlier this week when she emerged champion in the 10m air rifle finals.  In the Qualifications, Anish scored 580 to finish top of the tally while Neeraj was second best with 579. Anish scored 286 in stage 1 and 294 in stage 2 qualifying, while Neeraj had 291 in stage 1 and 288 in stage 2.

Tejaswini Sawant

Indian shooter Tejaswini Sawant on Friday bagged a Gold in women's 50m Rifle 3 final at the 21st Commonwealth Games in Australia's Gold Coast. The seasoned Tejaswini Sawant shattered the games record en route to winning the Gold medal. In a 1-2 finish for India, the 37-year-old Tejaswini shot a CWG record 457.9 in the event's finals at the Belmont Shooting Centre.

Scotland's Seonaid Mcintosh won bronze 444.6. This is the seventh CWG medal for Tejaswini, following two golds in 2006, a pair of silvers and a bronze in 2010 and as silver in women's 50m rifle prone in the ongoing edition yesterday. Tejaswini shot 582 (194, 196, 192) to finish third in qualifying.

Anjum Moudgil 

On the other hand, another Indian shooter Anjum Moudgil bagged a Silver in the women's 50m rifle 3 positions event, as Indian shooters set the stage ablaze in the 21st Commonwealth Games. 

The 24-year-old Moudgil has tasted her first success in these Games while making her maiden appearance. In the qualification, Moudgil had shattered the CWG Qualifying record by a significant margin. Her 589 (196 in kneeling, 199 in prone and 194 in standing) ensures she finished at the top in qualifying.