New Delhi, October 8
Appetite for medals is yet to satiate both Gagan Narang and Omkar Singh. They both have won three gold medals each so far and are still going strong.

After winning the 50 m Rifle 3 Positions event at Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range today, Gagan Narang became the first male athlete to complete a “golden triple” in the 2010 Commonwealth Games so far. Otherwise, he has become the fifth athlete in the history of the Games to win seven gold medals.

Later in the evening, Gagan Narang was joined by Omkar Singh of Madhya Pradesh in completing a rare “golden triple” as he won the Singles 10 m Air Pistol for men that saw Gurpreet Singh finishing a sixth. Omkar Singh returned a score of 584 ahead of Gai Bin of Singapore (580) and Roger Peter Daniel of Trinidad (577). Gurpreet aggregated 574.

Gagan Narang in partnership with Imran Hasan Khan also set a new Games record in 50 m Rifle 3 Positions by returning an impressive score of 2431 that included 106 points the pair lodged in the final shoot. Gagan again had four rounds of perfect 100. Against a score of 362 by his partner Imran, Gagan ran an impressive shoot by aggregating 385.

For India, it was yet another satisfactory day in shooting as 25-year-old Vijay Kumar of Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh completed his golden double with a new Games Record in Singles 25 m Rapid Fire Pistol.

His partner in 25 m Rapid Fire Pistol Pairs gold triumph yesterday, Gurpreet Singh of Amritsar, took the bronze in the event as Amir Hasan Hasli of Malaysia got the silver. Amir Hasli scored 760.3 against a new record of 787.5 by Vijay Kumar. Gurpreet scored 758.7.

Manavjit Singh Sandhu and Mansher Singh were beaten by a point by two time Olympic medallist Michael Diamond and partner Adam Vella in the Pairs Trap for men. For Diamond and Vella, it has been three times in a row as they had won the gold in 2002 and 2006 as well. While Mansher shot a perfect 25 in the first run, Manavjit finished at 23. He did make amends by shooting a perfect 25 in the second but Mansher got 24 in his second. Michael Diamond returned perfect score of 25 in both the rounds to get the gold medal for his team.

Indian pair of Sheryasi Singh and Seema Tomar with a score of 90 was pushed to fifth position in shoot off for the bronze medal.

India added three gold medals, one silver medal and one bronze medal to its shooting medals tally today thus taking its golden harvest into double figures.

New Delhi, October 8
Indian women wrestlers struck a purple patch with Alka Tomar and Anita Kumari bagging two more golds today in 59kg and 76kg freestyle event. With Babita Kumari bagging silver in 51kg category, India’s total tally in women freestyle wrestling jumped to three golds, two silvers and one bronze. India's first gold yesterday was won by Bhiwani's Geeta in 55kg freestyle event.

The gold winners, Anita and Alka savoured every moment of their win when the stadium rose up to give a standing ovation to the players and they took a round of the stadium holding the national flag.

The day’s first medal came from Babita Kumari who lost to Nigeria’s Ifeoma Christina Nwoye 4-7 and brought a silver home. The bronze in the category went to Canada’s Jessica Macdonald, who outclassed South African grappler M. Madi 8-0.

In the next 59 kg category, Alka Tomar gifted India the first gold of the day defeating Olympic champion Tonya Verbeek 3-2 pinfall. Bronze went to Nigerian Tega Tosin Richard, who defeated England's Louisa Bernadette Salmon 5-0.

“I am very excited with my win. I can call it the best fight of my career so far. My last win was in 2006 world tournament where I bagged a bronze. I knew I can win today, but after Babita, I just hoped deep within that I don’t commit any mistakes. But in the end, the strategy worked. I stayed focused and I won’ said Alka who pinned an Olympic medalist today.

Soon after, Anita won the day’s second gold in the freestyle 67kg category at bringing India’s total tally to three golds. She defeated Canadian M Buydens hands down by 4-1. The bronze in the category went to Nigeria’s I Iheanacho.

Anita who belongs from Bhiwani district is also in harayana Police force. Even wrestler Nirmala Burra who bagged silver yesterday is employed with Haryana police as an inspector.

Silver medalist Babita was a bit disappointed and said, “I had been preparing for two years now for gold. I was confident but the opponent was much taller. My strategy fell short I guess. My parents were here watching me play and expected me to win gold. My next stop will be Asian games. I am determined to do better next time”.

New Delhi, October 8
Somdev Devvarman and Sania Mirza expectedly entered the finals of the singles events as the hosts ensured at least two medals in tennis in the the Commonwealth Games at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association (DLTA) courts here today.

Somdev Devvarman returns a shot against Amresh Jayawickreme of Sri Lanka during men's singles match. — AFP

Top-seeded Somdev Devvarman, ranked 97th, made short work of third seed and world number 165, Matt Ebden of Australia 6-3, 6-1 in one hour ten minutes. Somdev will take on fifth seed Greg Jones of Australia in the title clash. Jones shocked compatriot and second seed Peter Luczak 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 in the other semi-final.

Second seed Sania Mirza was shaken out of her wits when she dropped the first set, and was down a serve but recovered quickly to beat sixth seed Olivia Rogowska of Australia 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 to cruise into the final.

Sania, bolstered by the presence of her husband in the stands (former Pakistan cricket captain Shoaib Malik) and egged on by a near-capacity crowd, made light of the early setback to comeback strongly and triumph in one hour and 55 minutes. But she committed far too many unforced errors, like her rival, to stretch the match unduly long.

Rogowska caputred the first set in 26 minutes and Sania dropped her serve in the fourth game of the second set with a double fault.

However, the 131-ranked Sania recovered from her mistakes to break the 192nd ranked Rogowska in the fifth and ninth game to move ahead 5-4. She then served out the set in the next game. Sania broke Rogowska in the first and fifth game of the crucial third set to run up a 4-1 lead. But despite dropping her serve twice, she made enoungh amends to annex the set and the match by breaking Rgowska for one last time.

"When you are not timing the ball well, you have to do something different. I am happy I could fight back. My game is aggressive but I had to run," she said.

"I'm happy with the way I fought because I didn't play that well. I knew I just needed to fight and come up with something different. I just had to hang in there", she added.

New Delhi, October 8
India woman were unimpressive even after they made mince meat of Trinidad and Tobago in its pool A match for their first win in the hockey competition of the Commonwealth Games at the historic Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here this afternoon.

The 7-0 win - with four field goals and three penalty corner conversion - may not be enough to carry them through to the medal round as other teams in their pool as both Australia and South Africa had recorded much bigger wins against Trinidad and Tobago in their pool games. India needed to win by a much bigger margin to remain within a chance of making the last four.

Going by the performance of the teams so far, India is virtually out of contention for the semi-final berth. The only possibility it has to score a huge win with a minimum difference of eight goals against South Africa tomorrow. And this looks not only improbable but impossible.

Australia had defeated West Indians 11-0 while Springboks won by a dozen. Scotland against whom started with a 1-1 draw had beaten Trinidad and Tobago 6-1.

Earlier in the day, Australia and South Africa played a 1-1 draw to put additional pressure on India. South Africa has two wins and a draw from three games while India has one win, a draw and a loss to its credit so far.

Tomorrow's game between India and South Africa will be decisive as only a big win can take the home team to semi-finals. On the other hand, even a defeat for South Africans by a margin of less than seven goals will not come in their way of joining the pool leader Australia in the semis.

Australia play Scotland in its last game. Scotland is also tottering at four points with a win, a draw and a defeat. Even if it holds Australia to a draw, it does not help India as one point from the last game would be enough to take the defending champions through to the medal round.

Runners-up in the last edition of the Games at Melbourne and winners at Manchester in 2002, Indian women have been going down the hill. An eighth-minute goal by skipper Surinder Kaur set the ball rolling for them. India could add only three more - one each by Rani Rampal, Ritu Rani and Surinder Kaur - all Shahbad Markanda girls before the gong sounded for the breather.

In the second half, home team looked disinterested and disjointed as its appetite for goals appeared to be satiated. It added only three more, including two by Surinder Kaur and one by Jasjeet Kaur Handa.

New Delhi, October 8
What do you do when the world knows you as the unofficial king of boxing in a country of a billion? Well, going by Vijender Singh’s definition, you nail the opposition. The middleweight boxer was in his element as he trounced Kenya’s Dick Ombaka 16-1 RSC (referee stopped contest) to enter the quarterfinals.

Vijender, who is generally known for starting cautiously, surprised the capacity crowd and his opponent alike as he won the fight with ounces of class and energy still to spare. He got into his element right from the word go and after teasing the Kenyan’s guard with some soft opening punches, he floored Ombaka with a combination of jabs that fetched him 9 points in the very first round. The crowd thundered with applause as Vijender played to the gallery and showed just why he is rated among the finest.

Not letting up an inch, Vijender came out for the second round with all guns blazing and was soon leading 13-1.

This time, he cornered Ombaka and after a couple of punches to his guard, Vijender punched through it thrice to make it 16-1. It was a no-holds-barred approach by the Bhiwani lad and the referee had to stop the fight, giving Vijender the chance to still be fresh enough to jump a 5 feet wall and embrace a jubilant Rahul Gandhi.

Earlier, India’s Jai Bhagwan (60kg) became the hosts’ fourth boxer to book a berth in the quarterfinals after beating Tanzania's Nasser Mafuru 11-2.

Jai Bhagwan now joins Amandeep (49kg), Suranjoy (52kg) and Manoj, in the last-eight stage.

Despite a tough opening round, Jai Bhagwan fought back with typical grit and a superb technical combination of ducking and punching to ease to a win.

New Delhi, October 8
The gold rush elsewhere for India has not proved to be good enough for athletics, where English players are having a field day. England’s Andy Turner won the gold in 110m hurdles, to help his country close the gap on India in the medal tally, at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium today as well.

Punjab girl Mandeep Kaur, who had qualified for the women’s 400m final, failed to put in a medal-worthy performance and ended up sixth in the race that was won by Botswana’s Amantle Montsho with a timing of 50.10 seconds, a Commonwealth Games record. She was followed by Nigeria’s Folshade Abugan (51.39) and Aliann Tabitha Pompey (51.65). Mandeep, despite a spirited performance ended with a timing of 52.37 seconds.

Speaking about her medal Montsho said, “I feel very happy as this is the first ever Gold medal for Botswana. I am sure a lot of my family and friends are watching this on TV. I’ll be a hero when I go home.”

Bangalore, October 8
High on confidence after the thrilling win in the series-opener but ravaged by injuries, India take on Australia in what promises to be another high-voltage battle in the second and final cricket Test here tomorrow.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men, fresh from the one-wicket win in the opening Test in Mohali, go into the match with a psychological edge but many injury problems to deal with.

The Indians would be seeking to wrap up the Test series and prevent the mighty Australians from clinching a Test win on Indian soil in six years but being a depleted side could turn the tide against them.

The Indians would be without key stars such as opener Gautam Gambhir and pacer Ishant Sharma, who had just about rediscovered some lost form when he was laid low by a knee injury in the opening Test.

The hero of last match's narrow triumph, VVS Laxman is also doubtful starter due to back spasms as he has not practiced for two days now.

"Laxman is much better now compared to what he was, though he did not practice today also. But we would love to have him in the playing XI. Of course, we need time to decide because it's a longer format," said Dhoni.

Tamil Nadu opener Abhinav Mukund, who performed well in the recently held Irani Trophy tournament, and Jaydev Unadkat have been included in the team in place of Gambhir and Ishant but it remains to be seen whether they would actually find a place in the playing XI.

With the track once again seeming to be on the slower side, stroke-making would be difficult as the match progresses.

As was evident the last time these teams had played here in October 2008, Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh would have a big role to play in the match.

Their pride hurt, the Australians would pull out all stops to turn the tables on the Indians after letting slip a game which was well within their grasp on at least the first four days.

"They will come back strongly in the second Test. That is there culture and also they do not give up easily. We are prepared equally and ready to face the task," Dhoni said. — PTI

New Delhi, October 8
Twenty-year-old Ashish Kumar of Allahabad has done the country proud by not only breaking the medal-less jinx in gymnastics but has also given India two medals, including a silver he won in men’s vault today.

Yesterday, Ashish had given India its first ever medal in gymnastics by finishing third in floor exercises by scoring 14.475 points against T. Pilchert of Australia who won the gold with 14.675 points.

His performance in Vault was far more impressive than the floor. He finished behind England’s Luke Folwell. Luke averaged 15.762 while Ashish ended with 15.312. Canada’s Ian Galvan was third.

Besides gymnastics, India has also got its first ever Commonwealth Games medal in archery yesterday. So, the number of the disciplines in the Commonwealth Games in which India had no history of winning medals, has started reducing.

Ashish, a student and regular trainee at National Sports Academy in Allahabad, lived up to his expectations in vault, his favourite. The Allahabad Academy is looked after by UK Mishra, Secretary of Uttar Pradesh Gymnastic Association as well as Vice-President of Gymnastic Federation of India.

New Delhi, October 8
Daughter of an autorickshaw driver in Ranchi, 'baby' Deepika Kumari took a giant leap when she guided the women's recurve team to bag the first Commonwealth Games gold in archery.

The 17-year-old shot 70, one point higher than double Olympian Dola Banerjee (69) and Bombayala Devi Laishram (68) as the trio pipped English opponents by one point for the top finish in a pressure-filled match.

Women's coach Poornima Mahato looks after Deepika as she is treated like a 'baby'.

For instance, she is not allowed to use a mobile phone and shares a room in the Games Village with the team's senior most member Dola.— PTI