With 26 Gold Medals India wraps CWG 2018 with grandeur, swiftly brings home 66 souvenirs in all
Gold Coast, April 16: And it’s a wrap. Drawing down the curtains, the 21st Commonwealth Games 2018 in Australia witnessed a colorful ceremony with legendary Boxer MC Mary Kom leading Indian delegation carrying tricolor. Indian competitors ended their campaign in the eleven day event on the third place, with 66 medals including 26 Gold, 20 Silver and 20 Bronze medals.
On the final day today, India won seven medals which include Gold, Four Silver and two Bronze. The lone Gold came in women's singles Badminton, in which star shuttlers P V Sindhu and Saina Nehal were pitted against each other in the final.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed hope that India’s success at Commonwealth Games 2018 will motivate more youngsters to pursue sports and create larger awareness on the importance of fitness in everyone’s lives.
In a series of tweets, Mr Modi said, Government is doing everything possible to strengthen the Fit India movement. He said, every athlete who represented India at the 21st edition of the Games inspires people.
The Prime Minister said, their life stories illustrate the power of dedication and a never-say-die attitude that made them overcome countless hurdles to attain the heights of success they did at the Games.
In a match that started on equal footing, Saina's aggression and intensity quite literally wilted her compatriot.
Saina won the high pressure match in straight games 21-18, 23-21 that lasted an hour. Saina had earlier claimed the singles Gold in the 2010 Delhi Games also.
However, in men's singles final, recently crowned world No.1 Kidambi Srikanth let slip a strong start to lose in three games to Malaysian icon Lee Chong Wei, who claimed his third individual gold in Commonwealth Games. Srikanth settled for the Silver.
Silver came in squash, when the duo of Dipika Pallikal Karthik and Joshna Chinappa lost to Joelle King and Landers-Murphy of New Zealand in women's doubles final.
The two Bronze medals were won in Table Tennis. In an all-India affair, Manika Batra and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran beat Achanta Sharath Kamal and Mouma Das in three games in the mixed doubles match. In Men's singles, Achanta Sharat Kamal defeated Samuel Walker of England for the second Bronze.